Music
Press
1. "Global Ambassadors of Armenian Music"-Armenian Reporter
2. "Master musicians born in the tradition" - Armenian Weekly.
3. "Purly Armenian" "Touching & soleful Armenian songs" Asbarez
Armenian Newspaper.
4. "Living creasures of Armenian Culture" USA Armenian Life Mag.
5."Their universe is a musical adventure in discovery" CA Courier.
6. IMA's "Passage to Armenia CD is the 1st place winner as the "Best Trad. World Music Album" The Fig Garden Villager.
7."A unique pilgrimage to a televised Armenian cultural celebration" PBS KVPT.
8. "Their show is a wonderful combination, part concert, part history lesson when Barbara sings and explains Sayat Nova songs written in the 1750's." Imagine Mag
9. "Armenia's President, Robert Kocharian, awards the National Gold Medal Award to the Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble, for their many years of dedication and preservation." Armenian Reporter & Armenia's Offical Govermental Newspaper.
10. " The Turnout for the evening was outstanding!"It teaches the community new cultures they may not know from their usual experiences." CSU, Fullerton Daily Titan.
11. "They perform trad. Armenian dances that date back to well over 2000 years with spirit and virtuosity" CSU, Fresno Collegian.
12." The Ensemble's masterful conservatory musicians perform on rarely heard, authentic instruments with their unique interpretations, which has captivated audiences across the United States and Armenia." Hofstra University News.
13. The honorable Senator Charles Poochigian will be the Master of Cermonies for the Chookasian's Glendale Community Concert event." They are unique for their known stunning showcase performances." Nor Gyank Newspaper
14. "Masters of Armenian Music"
"A concert of Armenian songs and dances that will be a memorable experience for the young and old!" Los Angeles Times.
15."Their music has a haunting spirtuality, as well as, an exciting
an exciting enthusiasm that has thrilled capacity audiences from California to Armenia." San Francisco Bay Guardian.
- Many Publishers
1. "Global Ambassadors of Armenian Music"-Armenian Reporter
2. "Master musicians born in the tradition" - Armenian Weekly.
3. "Purly Armenian" "Touching & soleful Armenian songs" Asbarez
Armenian Newspaper.
4. "Living creasures of Armenian Culture" USA Armenian Life Mag.
5."Their universe is a musical adventure in discovery" CA Courier.
6. IMA's "Passage to Armenia CD is the 1st place winner as the "Best Trad. World Music Album" The Fig Garden Villager.
7."A unique pilgrimage to a televised Armenian cultural celebration" PBS KVPT.
8. "Their show is a wonderful combination, part concert, part history lesson when Barbara sings and explains Sayat Nova songs written in the 1750's." Imagine Mag
9. "Armenia's President, Robert Kocharian, awards the National Gold Medal Award to the Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble, for their many years of dedication and preservation." Armenian Reporter & Armenia's Offical Govermental Newspaper.
10. " The Turnout for the evening was outstanding!"It teaches the community new cultures they may not know from their usual experiences." CSU, Fullerton Daily Titan.
11. "They perform trad. Armenian dances that date back to well over 2000 years with spirit and virtuosity" CSU, Fresno Collegian.
12." The Ensemble's masterful conservatory musicians perform on rarely heard, authentic instruments with their unique interpretations, which has captivated audiences across the United States and Armenia." Hofstra University News.
13. The honorable Senator Charles Poochigian will be the Master of Cermonies for the Chookasian's Glendale Community Concert event." They are unique for their known stunning showcase performances." Nor Gyank Newspaper
14. "Masters of Armenian Music"
"A concert of Armenian songs and dances that will be a memorable experience for the young and old!" Los Angeles Times.
15."Their music has a haunting spirtuality, as well as, an exciting
an exciting enthusiasm that has thrilled capacity audiences from California to Armenia." San Francisco Bay Guardian.
- Many Publishers
Discography
Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble’s live concert & festival CD recordings:
1. “Passage to Armenia”-“Janabar Tebee Haistan.” Our CD was selected as the "2006 INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS," 1st Place Winner as the “BEST TRADITIONAL WORLD MUSIC ALBUM.” It has been played and featured on several radio stations in the USA, Armenia and South America.
2. “Echoes from the Past”-“Artsagankner.” This CD was selected as one of the ten finalists in the 2005 Independent Music Awards. This CD also has been played and featured on several radio stations in the USA & in Armenia. It was the winner of the "Indie Acoustic Project Award."
3. “Armenian Traditional Music”-“Avantagan.” This album has been played and featured on several radio stations in the USA and in Armenia.
Visit our website to hear the audio tracks from our completed CD albums: www.chookasian.com
Photos
Bio
The 8-15 conservatory graduate musicians of the 'Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble,' with their dynamic executions of rarely-heard and unique traditional Armenian musical selections; presented on traditional instruments indigenous to the Armenians for thousands of years, has consistently ushered audiences of every ethnic group through the portals of old-world Armenian music in many concert & festival venues.
The Ensemble’s bevy of musical virtuosos are each an incomparable master on his/her own native instrument.
The unique instruments used by the Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble have become popular in current movie and television productions. The ‘duduk’ (Armenian folk flute) seems to have become the new instrumental rage for film and video industry composers. Many of our artists have played on the sound tracks of a good number of major motion pictures in the U.S. and Canada.
The Chookasian Ensemble draws from the age-old, historical troubadour music, prevalent for centuries throughout the Armenian national homeland. The group also presents instrumental selections from the 17th to 20th centuries, as well as energetically executing folk dance tunes, danced to by the Armenians for millennia and carried by the Armenian immigrants from their native soil to the Diaspora.
Through the congenial talents of John and Barbara Chookasian, who are professional, seasoned educators as well as skilled musicians and leaders of the group, the Ensemble has developed a fine reputation for high adaptability, tailoring concerts to fit audiences of all age groups and levels. With their engaging comments and explanations prior to each selection, the Chookasian's masterfully draw their audiences in to each performance. The artists and the audiences join together, and become a part and parcel of the same stirring musical experience.
Patrons have demonstrated their thorough enjoyment of the Ensemble’s performances by their rousing applause, their smiling faces, their positive commentary, and their repeated attendance at Chookasian Ensemble's events.
President Robert Kocharian, personally invited the Chookasian Ensemble to tour Armenia for one month. At their last concert, held in the Grand Philharmonic Concert Hall in Yerevan, Armenia the Ensemble became the exclusive recipient of the “National Gold Medal Award” of Armenia.
Mission: Through the vehicle of concerts, presentations, and CD recordings, the 'Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble' is realizing its global commitment to preserve, promote and popularize traditional Armenian folk music in its unchanged form, using the original, old-world folk instruments played by the Armenians over the ages.
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