Cadence Ensemble Performs in Keyboard Concert at Fresno State

Christine Pambukyan

Staff Writer

Combining musical energy and beautiful rhythms, the Cadence Ensemble performed in the Fresno State Concert Hall on Friday, April 26, as part of their celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Armenia’s noted composer Komitas Vardapet.

The Cadence Ensemble performance was part of the World Music Series of the Keyboard Concert Series and was co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program, the Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Fresno Chapter, and Orpheus.

The Yerevan, Armenia based-Cadence Ensemble is composed of five musicians: Varazdat Khachumyan, violin; Hakob Jaghatspanyan, guitar; Meruzhan Yeganyan, accordion; Sofi Mikayelyan, piano; and Gurgen Ameriyan, contrabass, who was unable to participate in the concert.

Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster Komitas, Soghomon Soghomonian, was an Armenian priest who spent his days observing and recording Armenian songs and traditions of families living in the Armenian countryside. Komitas passed away in a French sanatorium in 1935, unable to forget the tragedies he had witnessed during the Armenian Genocide.

Throughout the performance, the Cadence Ensemble exuded great vitality. Audience members were dancing and singing along to the Armenian folk songs and, despite someone’s phone going off in the middle of the concert, the ensemble shared our enthusiasm. Hakop Jaghatspanyan, the guitarist of the ensemble, smiled at the interruption and played his own ringtone in response.

The Cadence Ensemble did not simply play their instruments, they moved with the passion and emotions they conveyed through the melodies and harmonies of Armenian composers Sayat Nova, Khachatur Avetisyan, Komitas, Edward Baghdasaryan, Aram Khachaturyan, and Tigran Grigoryan, and Argentinian composers Astor Piazzolla, Alberto A.M. Herrera, Richard Halliano, and A. G. Villaldo Arroyo.

Violinist Khachumyan moved with passion; pianist Mikayelyan made eye contact with the audience and smiled at each climax of her solos; Jaghatspanyan was creative with his guitar, often using it as a drum; and accordionist Yeganyan moved his fingers and arms so gracefully that I found myself watching his every move.

The Ensemble was able to bring the audience to their feet after each song with standing ovations and even after the Ensemble performed the “Sabre Dance” from Aram Khachaturian’s “Gayane” Ballet as part of their encore performance, the audience was still wanting more.

After the concert, audience members were able to purchase a recording of the Cadence Ensemble performing in the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall of Yerevan, Armenia, as they drank wine, enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, and met the talented musicians.

The Cadence Ensemble established fifteen years ago, in 2004, initially performed the works of Astor Piazzolla. After the ensemble became one of the most popular groups of Armenia, they began to include contemporary Armenian, European, Russian, and American composers in their repertoire.

Since their first international tour in 2005, the Cadence Ensemble has performed across the world.