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In Memoriam: Armen Babamian

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  • In Memoriam: Armen Babamian

    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:http://youtu.be/XUd7tVJUxNA
    1st Accompanying Photo File Description: Armen Babamian, Onnik Dinkjian
    and Charles Kasbarian, the Three Musketeers of Dikranagerd, and Hagopig
    Kadian, the Bolsetsi D'Artagnan.


    http://hetq.am/eng/articles/22003/in-memoriam-armen-babamian.html




    From: A. Papazian
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