In Memoriam: Armen Babamian
21:37, January 2, 2013
By Charles and Lucine Kasbarian
Armen Babamian was a
leading guardian of our nation’s musical heritage in the Armenian Diaspora.
He has bridged Armenian musical customs from the past into the present to
instruct countless Armenian-American community choirs. In Ridgefield, New
Jersey, he was instrumental in establishing one of the most harmonious
Armenian choirs in the United States — a group which consisted of
generations of Armenian Americans, young and old — whom he trained to
perform the traditional interpretation of our beloved Armenian Divine
Liturgy.
Armen Babamian sang his first solo at the age of twelve in the Holy Cross
Armenian Church of Union City, NJ. He was featured as tenor soloist in his
junior and senior years in high school and subsequently studied voice with
Manley Price Boone at the Metropolitan Opera Studios. Following an audition
by director, Robert Shaw, Armen was accepted in the Collegiate Chorale, and
qualified for the Varsity Choir and Shaw’s CBS Radio Choir.
As an active member of the Armenian community, Armen sang tenor leads in
operas and operettas such as Anoush, Arshin Mal Alan, and Gharabaghi
Melikner. In addition, he joined the New Jersey Chorale and, as a featured
tenor soloist for many years, performed lead roles in Oklahoma, Showboat,
Annie, Get Your Gun,and the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, Mikado, Pirates
of Penzance, Ruddigore, and Trial by Jury. He has performed under the
batons of orchestral conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Sir Thomas
Beecham, and Arturo Toscanini. He appeared with Fred Waring’s
Pennsylvanians and assisted Paul Robeson in the presentation of Ballad for
Americans at Lewisohn Stadium in NY.
As a tribute to his Armenian heritage, Armen has specialized in performing
the classical songs of the godfather of Armenian folk music, Gomidas
Vartabed. He credits his “Varbed,” Mihran Toumajan — one of the famous
“five” pupils of Gomidas — for helping him to better appreciate the
Master’s musical genius. Toumajan declared Armen to be the foremost
American-born interpreter of Gomidas. Armen is the first American-born
Armenian tenor to have attempted the challenging study and execution of the
work of the famed 18th-century Armenian troubadour, Sayat Nova. As poetess
Sosy Krikorian-Kadian eloquently stated, “Armen Babamian is the gifted
child of a new world, from which the mountains of Armenia might have never
been seen; yet he never ceased to ascend them in song, and brought the
genius of Gomidas, Ganatchian, and the passions of the minstrel Sayat Nova
to generations of American Armenians who might otherwise have been denied
the joy and knowledge of that treasured music which is their rightful
inheritance.”
Armen was the Choirmaster of St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral
in New York for 25 years, and from 1965 – 2001 was Choirmaster of Sts.
Vartanantz Armenian Church of Ridgefield, NJ. After singing as principal
soloist for the Armenian National Chorus of New York under successive
conductors — Haroutiun Mehrab, Florence Mardirosian, and Mihran Toumajan
— Armen took over the conducting duties of the chorus from 1949 to 1955.
In the absence of maestro Krikor Pidedjian, Armen directed the Kousan
Chorus of NY in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair. At a time when some
communities did not have choirmasters of their own, Armen would travel to
St. Gregory Armenian Church in Philadelphia, PA and St. Gregory Armenian
Church in Indian Orchard, MA on a weekly basis in the 1950s and 60s to
teach the Soorp Badarak to their choirs.
In 1966, he founded and, for many years, directed the Armenian Chorale of
New Jersey. A highlight occurred in Armen’s musical career when, on April
13, 1970, he conducted a 75-voice choir at Riverside Church in New York
City. Two thousand people were on hand to hear Catholicos Khoren of the
Holy See of Cilicia celebrate High Pontifical Mass.
Armen Babamian, Choirmaster of the Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic
Church of Ridgefield, NJ, with pastor, deacons and choir, in 1983
Armen’s musical abilities were also put to use for other church
communities. In the 1980s, he was invited to assist the Assyrian community
in recording their own liturgy in which melodies, centuries old, had never
been documented in written form. Armen audiotaped the liturgy performed at
St. Mary’s Assyrian Church of Paramus, NJ, annotated the music, and
subsequently taught the choir their own liturgy in three-part harmony.
On September 29, 1973, Armen’s many friends and admirers gathered at a
testimonial banquet honoring him for his many years of dedicated service to
the Armenian community. Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians, who was
then the newly elected Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America,
as an honored guest at the banquet, praised the entire community for
acknowledging their profound gratitude and paying tribute to a true son of
the Armenian nation. In 1999, the Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
sponsored the presentation of the treasured St. Mesrob Mashdots Medal and
Holy Encyclical by Catholicos Aram I of Antelias in acknowledgment of and
appreciation for Armen’s years of devoted service. In 2000, the the Board
of Trustees, Church Choir, and congregation of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian
Apostolic Church of Ridgefield, NJ also honored Armen for his years of
devoted service as their choirmaster.
Everyone, from his pupils to the institutional leaders under whom he was
employed, recognized the invaluable service Armen performed toward the
preservation of our precious cultural heritage. And he always encouraged
the youth to `carry on.’ For an article in the Armenian Weekly about
dynamic 90-year-old Armenian Americans, Lucine called to mind the impact
Armen had upon her and her brother, Antranig. `Those who know Armen can
vouch for how he measured up to his birth date of December 25, 1915. Armen
has embodied the spirit of Christ and the resurrection of our people
throughout his lifetime as a guardian and disseminator of our great
Armenian musical legacy. He is that rare talent and patriot who knows the
context of the music so that his resulting interpretation contains all the
emotion and authenticity the musical subject matter requires. Our
experiences singing in Armen’s choir, starting at ages 6 and 5, directly
contributed to our active involvement in Armenian community affairs. Many
of his young singers were touched by his example and followed in his
footsteps by performing and teaching our Armenian musical heritage.’
A Personal Reminiscence of Armen Babamian
By Charles Kasbarian
Armen Babamian, Onnik Dinkjian and Charles Kasbarian, the Three Musketeers
of Dikranagerd, and Hagopig Kadian, the Bolsetsi D’Artagnan.
Armen with his wife, Rita, and their extended family, on his 90th
birthday.
My first glimpse of Armen Babamian was in 1931 when I was 4 years old. My
mother had enrolled my older brother and me in the Sunday School of Holy
Cross Armenian Apostolic Church in Union City, New Jersey. At a certain
point our teachers would take us into the sanctuary to witness the Armenian
Liturgy which was under way. It was then that I saw Armen, standing on the
altar, book in hand, singing one of our timeless and beloved Sharagans. I
felt exalted by Armen’s enchanting voice, and I resolved at that tender age
to some day join the choir, which I eventually did.
By that time Armen was no longer singing in Holy Cross Church, and I was
grouped with the sopranos because my voice hadn’t changed yet. When it did,
the Choir Director, Artin Shalian, an erudite scholar who later translated
our Armenian Epic, David of Sassoun, published by Ohio University Press,
took me in hand and personally taught me the bass part of the Badarak. When
later he was relieved of his duties, I decided it was time to move on.
When I next met Armen, with whom I had developed a close friendship over
the years, I said to him, `Armen, I know that you are the choirmaster of
St. Illuminator’s Cathedral in New York, and I’d like to come join your
choir.’ He replied, `I would consider it an honor to have you in my choir.
As a matter of fact, we have choir rehearsal this Thursday night. Come.’
So
I went, and he introduced me as the newest member of the choir. He also
described me as his cousin (which I wasn’t), probably counting on that to
put me in the good graces of the other members. Well, it sure worked. It
happened that elections were scheduled for a new executive body that very
night, and, based upon Armen’s recommendation, I was elected to the
executive committee. That shows how highly he was thought of by the young
people who practically worshipped him. His popularity was enhanced by his
habit of taking the kids after Sunday Badarak to the local ice cream parlor
for a treat at his expense. They would sing on the streets, all the way,
the Armenian folk songs he had taught them. Many of them joined the
Armenian National Chorus, which he eventually directed.
When it came to encouraging the youth, Armen was not surpassed. Thanks to
him we were blessed with some of the finest church organists to be found.
This brings to mind names such as Ara Dinkjian, Laurens Ayvazian, Raffi
Kadian, Antranig Kasbarian, Diane Kradjian, and Anne Boyajian. No potential
candidate was too young for Armen if he thought that person had the ability
to succeed. Just think, when Laurens Ayvazian left the post of organist,
Armen recommended Raffi Kadian and Antranig Kasbarian as co-organists. And
they were 13 years old, and 12 years old respectively. They fully measured
up to his expectations, as did all the others.
Although Armen was 12 years my senior, he always behaved towards me as an
older brother. Together with Onnik Dinkjian, we acted like Three Musketeers
of Dikranagerd, always speaking our dialect when in each others’ company.
Armen had mentioned to me that our dear departed friend Zabelle Bogosian,
when a child, had difficulty saying akhper, Dikranagerdtsi for yeghpair or
brother. She would address her brother as aper, and we picked up on that,
calling each other aper, or ap for short. Many a time Armen would
address me with, `Hi ap, what’s up!’
Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita, observed: `Life is such a great
surprise. There is no reason why what follows should not be an even greater
surprise.’ And so, we say Adieu to you, dear Armen, and look forward to
when our spirits will meet again in The Great Beyond.
To hear Armen’s vocal renditions of our sacred and secular Armenian music,
visit this YouTube link:
1st Accompanying Photo File Description: Armen Babamian, Onnik Dinkjian
and Charles Kasbarian, the Three Musketeers of Dikranagerd, and Hagopig
Kadian, the Bolsetsi D’Artagnan.
From: A. Papazian
http://youtu.be/XUd7tVJUxNA
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/22003/in-memoriam-armen-babamian.html