Isabel Bayrakdarian

Grammy-nominated soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30,, as part of the Philip Lorenz Keyboard Concert Series, in conjunction with the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program. The concert will take place in the St. Paul Armenian Church sanctuary located at 3767 N. First Street in Fresno.

Concert sponsors include: Dr. Ishkhan Bayrakdarian and Family, Varouj & Lena Altebarmakian, the AGBU Greater Fresno Chapter, the Helen Zevart Peterson Armenian Fund, the Knights of Vartan, Yeprad Lodge, and St. Paul Armenian Church.

Bayrakdarian will take the audience on an intimate journey through songs, prayers, and lullabies that speak to the universal themes of love, longing, faith, family, and belonging.

Inspired by the rich musical traditions of her ancestral homeland, Bayrakdarian reimagines these timeless songs through a richly layered performance that brings together music and live art. As the program unfolds, visual artist Kevork Mourad creates live drawings in real time, weaving a parallel narrative of memory, imagination, and storytelling.

Together, music and image intertwine to create a deeply immersive experience that transcends language and celebrates our shared humanity.

In a career still in its second decade, an eagerly anticipated visitor to opera houses and concert halls the world over, Isabel Bayrakdarian has become as celebrated for her beauty, presence, and style as for a strikingly multihued voice that’s wholly in sync with the rest of her.

A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions – the same year she graduated from the University of Toronto cum laude with a Biomedical Engineering Degree – Dr. Bayrakdarian thereafter found her career taking rapid wing. She scored a notable success in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s world premiere production of William Bolcom’s “A View from the Bridge;” the following year, she walked away from Plácido Domingo’s prestigious Operalia competition with first prize.

Bayrakdarian is the recipient of many awards, including the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition Award, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee and the Diamond Jubilee Medals, the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto, the George London Foundation Award, Canada Council’s Virginia Parker Prize, and the Republic of Armenia “Komitas Medal.” Most recently, she was awarded the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal, the Republic of Armenia’s highest cultural award.

Accompanying Bayrakdarian in the concert are: Ellie Choate, harp; Rayo Furuta, flute; and Mher Mnatsakanyan, duduk.

Tickets are priced at $30 for general admission; $20 for seniors, and $5 for students, and are available online.