Through his Cristofori Foundation http://cristoforifund.tripod.com/ Martin Berkofsky has initiated the creation of the Alan Hovhaness International Research Centre in Yerevan, Armenia, http://www.hovhaness.org
Alan Hovhaness composed the Concerto for Two Pianos in 1954 for a two-piano team who never performed, recorded, or published the work.
The composer gave a copy of the manuscript to Belarusian-American pianist Martin Berkofsky, asking if Berkofsky could bring the concerto to life.
In March 2004, it premiered in Moscow through the efforts of Berkofsky , who seeks to reveal the beauty of Hovhaness’ work to the world. Berkofsky and the Armenian-American composer, Hovhaness developed a friendship over three decades until the death of the composer in 2000.
Through his Cristofori Foundation, Berkofsky has initiated the creation
of the Alan Hovhaness International Research Centre in Yerevan, Armenia, http://www.hovhaness.org
In this concerto, Alan Hovhaness has recreated exotic sounds: In the first movement, the Indonesian Gamelan; in the second movement, the sound of the Kanun, a middle-eastern zither; in the third movement, the jhala teranga. Notable are Hovhaness’ successful experiments with twelve-tone rows in both the second and third movements.
This performance on November 24, 2006, in Khatchaturian Hall, Yerevan, was given by Martin Berkofsky, his master student Atakan Sari, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Ruben Asatrian.
The entire concert was a tribute to Alan Hovhaness and a celebration of the composer’s 95th anniversary. Atakan Sari was the first Turkish soloist ever to perform with the Armenian Philharmonic. The heartfelt welcome he received was a tribute to the good will of all, and to the spirit which Hovhaness himself proclaimed in his Symphony No.11, «All Men are Brothers.»
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