Music: Random Acts — Hail, Hail, Armenia: The VEM Quartet

RANDOM ACTS — HAIL, HAIL, ARMENIA: THE VEM QUARTET

Santa Fe New Mexican.com
Nov 21 2014

James M. Keller SantaFeNewMexican.com

The VEM Quartet, which is the graduate string quartet in residence
at UCLAâ~@~J’s Herb Alpert School of Music, is spearheading a
new incentive there to raise the profile of Armenian musical
traditions. When the group appears in Santa Fe, it accordingly
includes among its offerings a set of Armenian Miniatures by the
Armenian ethnomusicologist and composer Komitas (1869-1935). The
foursome also plays Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E minor (Op. 44, No. 2)
and a movement from Lou Harrison’s Quartet Set. Following intermission,
former Santa Fean Stephanie Nagler (now as violinist, although she is
the quartet’s violist) is joined by a percussion ensemble from Santa
Fe University of Art and Design for Harrison’s Concerto for Violin
and Percussion Orchestra, with Steve Paxton conducting. Although
Harrison’s modernist concerto, begun in 1940 and completed in 1959,
most audibly reflects his interest in Southeast Asian music, it,
too, has an Armenian connection; it was written for Anahid Ajemian,
an American violinist of Armenian heritage, who played its premiere
in 1961. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at
San Miguel Chapel, 401 Old Santa Fe Trail. Tickets ($15, no charge
for students) are available at the door.