(b. 1981, Yerevan).
Armenian composer, now resident in Canada, of mostly chamber, choral and vocal works that have been performed in Asia, Europe and North America.
Mr. Sargsyan studied music theory at the Tchaikovsky College of Music in Yerevan from 1996–98. He then studied composition with Ashot Zohrabyan at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan from 1998–2003, where he also studied conducting with Tigran Hekekyan from 2000–06 and where he had postgraduate studies in composition with Ashot Zohrabyan from 2005–07. He later studied composition with Philippe Leroux at McGill University in Montréal from 2012–15.
Among his early honours are an award in the choral competition of the Komitas State Conservatory and the Armenian Chamber Choir (2006, for Tantum ergo), a prize in the competition of the European Seminar for Young Composers in Aosta (2008, for Laudate Dominum), First Prize in the competition for new choral music Petrinja in Croatia (2009, for Anegh Bnutiun [second version]), an award for creative achievement from the World Armenian Congress in Yerevan (2009, for Mythis), winner in the commission competition of BCE in Boston, Massachusetts (2010, for Tribulationes), Third Godfrey Ridout Prize in the competition for young composers of SOCAN (2012, for Tribulationes), and the Graduate Excellence Fellowship from McGill University (2013). His later prizes include winner in the commission competition of POLYPHONOS in Seattle (2017, for Mheri Dur – The Door of Mher), the prize for best choral composition of the year in Yerevan (2019, for Mheri Dur), the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music from the Canada Council for the Arts (2023, for Quiet Songs), and the Prix du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec – Artiste de l'année à Laval (2024). His music has been performed in Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.
He is also active in other positions. He founded the Armenian Chamber Voices in Yerevan in 2005 and served as its conductor in 2005–06. He later served as a music consultant to the European Choral Association from 2010–12. As a singer, he was a founding member of the experimental vocal ensemble Phth in Montréal.
His arrangement of Khorurd metz – Great Mystery is included in the anthology World Carols for Choirs (2005, Oxford University Press).
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
ORCHESTRAL:
Music for 13, small orchestra (13 players), 2002
Ter yete... – God, if (cantata), mixed chorus, large orchestra (64 players), 2003
Mythis, 18 strings, 2008
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Five Images, cello, piano, 1996
Poem, cello, piano, 1998
Sonatina, clarinet, piano, 1999
String Quartet, 2000
Selbstvergessenheit, 2 clarinets, cello, piano, 2006
Cette fille... (texts by Paul Fort, Yeghishe Charents), soprano, flute, clarinet, cello, piano, 2006 (also version as Deux Silhouettes féminines, soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 2007)
Hunting the Hunter, clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, marimba, 2012
Deperson, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 2013
Qarerg, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 2014
Gandz, flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, 2014
Epitaphios, string quartet, 2015
Noesis, flute, piano, 2018
Beat of an Eighth, 5 players, 2020
CHORAL:
Tkhur meran... – Sadly Departed (text by Vahan Teryan), female chorus, 1999
Kesgisher – Midnight (text by Vahan Teryan), mixed chorus, 1999
Voghormya – Lord, Have Mercy (text from Psalm 50 [Armenian translation]), mixed chorus, 2000
Luys Zvart – Joyful Light (text from an ancient Greek sacred text [Armenian translation]), female chorus, 2001 (also version for mixed chorus, 2006)
Lux æterna (text from Latin liturgy), mixed chorus, 2004
Tantum ergo (text by St. Thomas Aquinas), mixed chorus, 2006
Domine Deus (text from the Gloria), 7 mixed voices, 2007
Laudate Dominum (text from Psalm 150), mixed chorus, 2008
Anegh Bnutiun (text by St. Nerses IV the Gracious), female chorus, 2008 (also version for male chorus, 2009)
Dzaynik (text by Komitas Vardapet), female chorus, 2009
Ilik (text from a folk source from Armenia), female chorus, 2009
Stabat Mater (text from Latin liturgy), mixed chorus, 2010
Tribulationes (text from the Book of Psalms), mixed chorus, 2010
Wage Peace (text by Judith Hill), mixed chorus, 2011
Novum Gaudium, mixed chorus, 8 players, 2015
Change, mixed chorus, 2011–16
Labia Mea, 8 mixed voices, 2016
Judas, male chorus, 2017
Mheri Dur, male voice, mixed chorus, 2017
Ter Voghormya, male voice, mixed chorus, 2017
Myself On, mixed chorus, 2019
Warm up, mixed chorus, 2021
Dzayn, mixed chorus, 2023
VOCAL:
Nani (vocalise), male voice, 2012
Awakening (vocalise), male voice, string quartet, 2015
Theoria, male voice, live electronics, 2017
Ad Voc, male voice, flute, 2018
Tsirani Tsar, male voice, piano, 2018
Aria, male voice, audience, 2021
Manook, male voice, fixed media, 2021
Quiet Songs (texts by Gregory of Narek, Komitas, the composer), female voice, male voice, clarinet, cello, piano, 2023
PIANO:
Visions, 1997
Variations, 1999
Bagatelle, 2015
ARRANGEMENTS:
Sirt im sasani – My Heart Is Grieving over Judas (13th-century chorale from Armenia), mixed chorus, 2002
Khorurd metz (Movses Khorenatsi), mixed chorus, 2002
Usti Gukas (Sayat-Nova), clarinet, cello, marimba, 2012
Nahatak Bari (Hovhannes III Odznetsi), mixed chorus, 2022