Mer Hooys Art Exhibition And Gala Concert Showcases Armenian- American Virtuosos Mer Hooys Graduate Artist From Armenia To Attend

House of Hope – Mer Hooys, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit corporation, is celebrating six successful years of providing hope to young girls from severely disadvantaged backgrounds in Armenia with an Art Exhibition and Gala Concert, showcasing numerous talented Armenian-American musicians as well as paintings by a Mer Hooys program graduate.

Mer Hooys will host the event on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at The Performing Arts Education Center on the campus of Calabasas High School.  The art exhibition, beginning at 2:30 p.m., will feature more than 50 paintings by award-winning artists 19-year-old Mer Hooys graduate Armine Arshakyan-Vardanyan and her husband Suren Vardanyan.  Artwork will be available as a gift to donors of specified amounts.  Donations for artwork will help support Mer Hooys as well as the Vardanyan family, who will be traveling from Armenia to attend the event.

“Mer Hooys is so gratified that one of our graduates is such an accomplished artist, and we are excited about featuring both Armine and Suren’s artwork at this event,” said Hon. Adrienne Krikorian, Mer Hooys president.  “We are also thrilled to be showcasing so many talented Armenian-American musical professionals during the Concert.  Our audience is in for a real treat!”

The concert will begin at 4:00 p.m., featuring performances by numerous Armenian-American musicians who are natives of Southern California and the Central Valley.  Pianist Dr. Alexander Wasserman will perform the spectacular Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3 in D minor, Opus 30, one of those most difficult concertos ever written for the piano and which many well-known artists have declined to perform because of its complexity.  Dr. Wasserman has appeared with symphony and community orchestras throughout the east and west coasts, and his performances are frequently broadcast on television and classical radio stations throughout the country. 

The orchestra will be conducted by his mother Jo Anne Gondjian Wasserman, who is in her 26th season as conductor and artistic director of the Santa Barbara Choral Society. She has worked with an impressive list of outstanding choral and orchestral conductors during her career.  The Mer Hooys Board is dedicating Dr. Wasserman’s performance to his late grandfather and Ms. Wasserman’s late father, James (Jimmy) Gondjian, of Los Angeles. 

Award-winning pianist and composer Dr. Michael Krikorian, son of Ben and Clarice Krikorian of Fresno, will perform two of his own compositions/arrangements, as well as classical works by Rachmaninoff and Liszt/Gounod.  Additional performers include vocalists Lauren Movsesian, daughter of Jeff and Karen Hazarian and daughter-in-law of Very Rev. Fr. Vazken and Susan Movsesian; Clarise and Colette Compton, daughters of Capri Mugrdechian Compton and Eric Compton; and Sevag Derderian, son of Ardashes and Marian Derderian and nephew of the Western Diocese Primate.  Vocalists will perform a selection of Armenian and non-Armenian numbers, accompanied by pianist Lisa Yaldezian and classical guitarist and professor of classical guitar, Satik Andriassian.

All proceeds from the event will go to support the Mer Hooys program in Armenia, which has demonstrated great success in only a few short years.  Operating at the Nakashian Children’s Support Center in Yerevan, Mer Hooys has already graduated 15 girls, most of whom are attending Yerevan State University to prepare for careers in psychology, medicine, business, computer science, food science, graphic arts, and the arts.  More than 70 percent of these graduates have been reunited with a family member, after receiving intensive family counseling from Mer Hooys.  Three graduates are married into loving families and have started their own families, while pursuing higher education.  Two graduates live in the Nakashian Children’s Support Center’s transitional living apartment, designed to help those who have no suitable family with whom they can live after completing their secondary school education.  Our transitional graduates live independently while pursuing a college education, with modest support from Mer Hooys.  They participate in activities at the Center, including mentoring younger residents.

Judge Krikorian reports that eighteen girls ages 9-15, all coming from severely disadvantaged lifestyles, are currently living at the Nakashian Children’s Support Center.  “Our girls are creating life goals, developing social and life skills, receiving psychological counseling and educational support,” said Judge Krikorian.  “Our gala Concert and Art Exhibition will support our current residents and graduates, providing the education, psychological counseling, and social support they need to lead healthy lives and ultimately support themselves and start their own families.”

The Performing Arts Education Center at Calabasas High School is located at 22955 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, California 91302.  Mer Hooys welcomes sponsorships for this event; sponsors will receive a gift of notecards depicting Armine’s work.  Donations for reserved-seat tickets is $100 plus service charge.  Tickets and information about the event and sponsorships is available at www.mer-hooys.org, by email to info@mer-hooys.org, and on the Mer Hooys Facebook page.