Organist Milkica Radovanović Presents Armenian Sacred Music at the Vahagn Stamboltsyan Festival

Serbian organist and pianist Milkica Radovanović, who lives and works in Norway and is a laureate of international competitions, performed a solo concert at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall as part of the 4th Vahagn Stamboltsyan International Organ Music Festival on October 10.

Bridging the Baroque era and contemporary music, the concert program featured works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Tomaso Albinoni, Felix Mendelssohn, Edvard Grieg, and other composers.

The program also included Armenian premieres: Prelude in C Major and Prelude in A Minor by Croatian composer Franjo Dugan, Medial 2 by Serbian composer Vladimir Tošić, and Ave Maris Stella by Norwegian composer Petra Bjørkhaug.

The concert concluded with Ludovico Einaudi’s Experience, performed as an encore.

A special part of the concert was dedicated to Armenian sacred music. Radovanović performed selections of Armenian sacred music arranged by Komitas, featuring organ transcriptions by Vahagn Stamboltsyan and Davit Gilanyan. Deeply impressed by Armenian sacred music, the organist has incorporated these works into her concert repertoire and has already performed them in Norway.

The concert was attended by Svetlana Sahakyan, Head of the Contemporary Art and Book Publishing Department of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Lise Nordgaard, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to the Republic of Armenia; as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps and the cultural sector.

As part of the festival, on October 8, Milkica Radovanović also gave a solo concert at the Vahagn Stamboltsyan Concert Hall of the Kapan State College of Arts.

The 4th International Organ Music Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.