Award-winning Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan performs on Akhtamar Island

00:17, 25 Jun 2015

Siranush Ghazanchyan

Award-winning Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan performed a concert on June 23 outside the Akhtamar Church on the historical Akhtamar Island in Van, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The concert on Akhtamar Island was “vigorous,” said Tamar Nalci, the project coordinator at Anadolu Kültür (Anatolian Culture), a non-profit cultural institution that organized Hamasyan’s concerts in Turkey.

“Tigran Hamasyan is a reputable Armenian jazz pianist who performs mini concerts at historical sites and churches with the company of the state chamber choir of Armenia [Hover]. This is a concert of church music.”

Tigran Hamasyan is accompanied by a group of 25 musicians. This has been our second concert. It attracted much interest. The concert was vigorous,” Nalci said after the concert held on the historical island.

Van Deputy Mayor Cahit Bozbay and Gevaş District Mayor Sinan Hakan were among the attendees of the concert, along with a number of local residents.

Hamasyan will continue performing in various Turkish provinces until June 30 in a project called “Luys i Luso.” He will also perform in 100 churches in Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Luxembourg, Russia and the U.S.

Hamasyan, 27, who started playing piano at the age of three and won the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003 and the Thelonious Monk Institute piano contest at the age of 18, performs traditional Armenian music in his concerts.