Exciting new artists to take part in NY ‘Musical Armenia’ concert

On Fri., April 19, the highly anticipated Musical Armenia concert series presented by the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Prelacy Ladies’ Guild will take place in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York.

The concert is featuring two young musicians who have already established their presence on the American and international music scenes: Nune Melikian, violinist, born in Siberia, and Narine Ojakhyan, soprano, born in Yerevan, the Armenian Weekly reported.


Nune Melikian, a child prodigy, began her musical studies with piano lessons at the age of four, and at the age of six entered Grigoriy Freivert’s violin class. One year later she made her orchestra debut in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic Society of Kazan.


Melikian’s talent continued to develop in the Central Music School in Moscow, the Gnessin Music College, and later at the Moscow Conservatory. She received a two-year scholarship to continue her studies at the University of Montreal in Canada with Prof. Vladimir Landsman, receiving her master’s degree in 2011. She is currently studying with Prof. Albert Markov in New York.


Melikian has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist throughout Russia, Europe, and Canada. She has received grants from the Vladimir Spivakov Musical Fund and the David Oistrakh Musical Fund. She has also participated in music festivals and master classes, including the “Stars of XXI Century” with Vladimir Spivakov in Moscow, Copenhagen, Denmark and Rome, Italy.


Narine Ojakhyan, a graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory in the studio of Marianna Harutiunyan, continued her education at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and received her post-graduate diploma in performance and her master’s degree from the opera program. She has studied with Joy Mammen and Jonathan Papp at the Royal Academy, and coached with renowned artists Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Fredrica Von Stade, Barbara Bonney, and Dennis O’Neill.


In the summer of 2012, Ojakhyan was chosen to participate in the Caramoor Festival. She has also participated in the Verbier Festival 2010 in Switzerland, performing the operatic roles of Mimi in “La Bohème,” Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro” under the baton of Sir Colin Davis and John Copley, and the title role in “Lucia di Lammermoor” for the Iford Arts in England. She has also won several competitions, including the Opera Rara Patric Schmid Bel Canto Prize in London and third place of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Western region) in 2010.