The Naghash Ensemble

The Naghash Ensemble brings the spiritual depth of Armenian folk and sacred music together with new classical, post-minimalism, and the energy of jazz and rock in a shared breath. From medieval texts about life in exile, new, hypnotic soundscapes emerge, carried by three extraordinary singers and four virtuoso musicians on duduk, oud, dhol, and piano. The "Songs of Exile" by Armenian-American composer John Hodian revolve around the relationship between humans and the divine, told from the perspective of the priest and exile poet Mkrtich Naghash. His texts on homelessness, uprooting, and spiritual searching are strikingly relevant to this day. This timelessness is reflected in Hodian's music: intense, clear, ethereal, and profoundly moving. "An absolute rediscovery […] A music that is hard to categorize as either old or new, foreign or familiar, Western or Eastern, simple or complex." (BR Klassik) "Unmistakably Armenian and yet otherworldly." Armenian-German Correspondence Hasmik Baghdasaryan - soprano, Tatevik Movsesyan - soprano, Shahane Zalyan - alto, Tigran Hovhannisyan - dhol, Aram Nikoghosyan - oud, Sevada Iritsyan - duduk, John Hodian - piano, composition.