On Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 5:00 PM, the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Arlington, Massachusetts, will present pianist Alessandra Pompili in Voices Across Time: Armenian Piano Music, a special piano recital and CD launch honoring the late Dr. Robert Mirak. The program brings together music by Stéphan Elmas, Koharik Gazarossian, George Gurdjieff, Dianne Gooklasian Rahbee, Alan Hovhaness, Aram Khachaturian, and Loris Tjeknavorian, offering audiences an unusually broad journey through Armenian and Armenian-diaspora piano music. The concert will be held at the Armenian Cultural Foundation, 441 Mystic Street in Arlington, and is free and open to the public, with a reception and CD signing following the performance.
Italian pianist Alessandra Pompili has developed a particularly strong connection with the music of Alan Hovhaness. She studied at the L’Aquila Conservatoire and the École Normale de Musique de Paris and has performed extensively in Europe and the United States. Hovhaness listeners may already know her through her recordings devoted to his piano music, which have included lesser-known works and world-premiere recordings. Critics have noted her particular affinity for Hovhaness, and her own writings describe an attraction to his exploration of the relationship between music and silence. The Armenian Cultural Foundation commissioned Pompili to record this new collection of piano music from the Armenian diaspora in honor of Robert Mirak, with the project scheduled for release in 2026.
The dedication to Dr. Robert Mirak (1933–2025) gives the evening special significance. Mirak was a scholar, author, businessman, educator, and longtime leader of the Armenian Cultural Foundation. The son of Armenian Genocide survivors John and Artemis Mirak, he studied at Williams College and Oxford and earned his doctorate at Harvard under noted immigration historian Oscar Handlin. His landmark book, Torn Between Two Lands: Armenians in America, 1890 to World War I, published by Harvard University Press in 1983, became an important reference in Armenian-American studies. In 1997, Mirak assumed leadership of the Armenian Cultural Foundation founded by his father and continued the family’s support of Armenian cultural, educational, humanitarian, and historical projects. He passed away on July 17, 2025, at the age of 92. A concert devoted to preserving Armenian musical voices is therefore an especially fitting tribute to a man who devoted so much of his life to preserving Armenian history and culture.
For the Hovhaness-Fujihara Music Company, we are especially pleased to see Alan’s music included among composers representing different generations and expressions of the Armenian musical tradition. Alessandra Pompili has been a dedicated interpreter of Hovhaness’s piano music, helping bring some of his lesser-known works to audiences and recordings. We would also like to extend our special thanks to Dr. Ara Ghazarians of the Armenian Cultural Foundation for his continued friendship, encouragement, and support of Alan Hovhaness’s musical legacy. Events such as Voices Across Time demonstrate how performance, scholarship, and recording can work together to preserve Armenian musical heritage while introducing it to new generations.
To learn more about Alessandra Pompili click here.
To learn more about the Armenian Cultural Foundation click here.
