The Yale Alumni Chorus cemented relations with the Philharmonia of Russia and conductor Constantine Orbelian with an invitation to New Haven and New York for joint performances in honor of the Centennial of Armenian composer Aran Khachaturian in October 2003.
The Chorus hosted the Russian musicians for a week of masters’ classes and cultural exchange on the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut. We gave a joint concert at Woolsey Hall along with members of the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale, Russian pianist Dora Serviarian-Kuhn, Russian mezzo-soprano Marina Domashenko, and American soprano Christianne Tisdale, a Yale graduate.
We hosted a gala celebration dinner at Yale in honor of Khachaturian that was attended by members of the late composers’ family and the Armenian Ambassador as well as the visiting musicians from the Philharmonia of Russia.
We all then performed the Khachaturian Centennial Celebration Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Yale Alumni Chorus President Mark Dollhopf ’77 presents a recognition award for the Khachaturian Centennial Celebration to members of the late composer’s family at Yale in October 2003.