Das Naghash Ensemble - Sargfabrik

Sargfabrik - Verein für integrative Lebensgestaltung, Wien

The Naghash Ensemble combines the spiritual depth of Armenian folk and sacred music with new classical music, post-minimalism and the energy of jazz and rock. New, hypnotic soundscapes emerge from medieval texts about life in exile, carried by three extraordinary singers and four virtuoso musicians on duduk, oud, dhol and grand piano.

The "Songs of Exile" by the Armenian-American composer John Hodian revolve around the relationship between man and the divine, told from the perspective of the priest and exiled poet Mkrtich Naghash. His texts about homelessness, uprootedness and the spiritual search are still shatteringly topical today. This timelessness is reflected in Hodian's music: intense, clear, floating and deeply moving.

"An absolutely new discovery [...] A music of which one can hardly say whether it sounds old or new, foreign or familiar, western or eastern, simple or complex." (BR Klassik)

"Unmistakably Armenian and at the same time out of this world."
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