KOMITAS QUARTET
The Komitas Quartet was established in November 1924 by Avet Gabrielyan, Levon Ohanjanyan, Michael Teryan and Sargis Aslamazyan-students of Moscow Conservatoire.
In January 1925 the Quartet started regular rehearsals and practice under the mentorship of Professor E.M. Guzikov, who also put together the Quartet’s performance program for the period of January to the end of the academic year.
The first musical piece that the young musicians worked on was Beethoven’s Quartet N 1 and it took them almost two months to perfect its presentation.
The first performance occurred on March 1, 1925.
In 1925-1931 the Quartet had concerts in different cities of USSR as well as in Armenia. In 1931 it was granted the title of the State Quartet of Armenian SSR.
In 1932, when Komitas was still alive, the Government of Armenian SSR named the Quartet after the great Armenian musician.
In 1936 the Quartet won the contest of the USSR Composers’ Union, while in 1938 shared the first prize in All-Soviet contest of string quartets.
In 1938 the Quartet musicians were named Honored Artists/Musicians of Armenian SSR and People’s Artists in 1945.
World famous musicians S. Rikhter, M. Rostropovich, E. Gilels and others performed with the Quartet.
The Komitas Quartet was the first among Soviet ensembles to have concert tours abroad in post Second World War era, in 1953.
The Quartet’s musical mastery has captivated audiences in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Austria, England, Norway, Germany, Czechoslovakia and other countries.
For 52 consecutive years the renowned musician Avet Gabrielyan was the first violinist and the artistic director of the Quartet. Sargis Aslamazyan-talented cellist and composer- worked with the Quartet for 44 dedicated years.
In 1970 Avet Gabrielyan invited Eduard Tadevosyan- a student of Moscow Conservatoire and an award winner of international contests- to join the Quartet. Eduard Tadevosyan played next to the Maestro for six years as a second violinist, while in 1976 Gabrielyan entrusted his Guarneri violin and his position as the first violinist to Eduard Tadevosyan, who to date remains the Komitas Quartet’s first violinist and artistic director.