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

House of Hope – Mer Hooys, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit corporation, celebrated 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 hosted the event on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at The Performing Arts Education Center on the campus of Calabasas High School.  The art exhibition featured more than 50 paintings by award-winning artists 19-year-old Mer Hooys graduate Armine Arshakyan-Vardanyan and her husband Suren Vardanyan.  Donations for artwork helped support Mer Hooys as well as the Vardanyan family, who had travelled from Armenia to attend the event.

The gala concert featured performances by numerous Armenian-American musicians who are natives of Southern California and the Central Valley.  In an awe aspiring performance, pianist Dr. Alexander Wasserman performed the spectacular Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3 in D minor, Opus 30, one of the most difficult concertos ever written for the piano and which many well-known artists have declined to perform because of its complexity.  

Throughout his career, 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 was 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 dedicated 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, performed two of his own compositions/arrangements, as well as classical works by Rachmaninoff and Liszt/Gounod.  Additional performers included vocalists Lauren Movsesian, daughter of Jeff and Karen Hazarian and daughter-in-law of Very Rev. Fr. Vazken and Yn. 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 Diocesan Primate.  Vocalists also performed 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 went 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.”

In his remarks, the Primate reflected on the mission of Mer-Hooys. “For those of you who have learned about the noble mission and have supported this noble cause, undoubtedly feel in the depth of your hearts a spiritual comfort and peace for reaching out to those young girls whose lives have changed because of esteemed individuals like yourselves. You have been inspired by their living faith, and have shared with them God’s divine love and wisdom,” stated His Eminence.

Primate's Message 

The Primate also commended the Board of Trustees of Mer Hooys for their selfless dedication to carrying out the mission of Mer Hooys as well as their exceptional organizational prowess in bringing the art exhibition and gala concert to fruition.  “I extend my wholehearted gratitude to the members of the Board of “Mer Hooys-House of Hope” for their unwavering support, their unconditional love and respect for human lives, but above all, for their act of benevolence of showing us that we know how to make eglise vivant, the church for the people.”