Silenced for over one hundred years, the Western Armenian music brought to America by the first Armenian immigrants has become an integral part of Armenian culture in the United States. Artist and musician Hachig Kazarian, author of Western Armenian Music: From Asia Minor to the United States (Armenian Series, 2023), will examine the many facets of Western Armenian music, and how it has been neglected due to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. He will discuss his motivation for why he wrote the book Western Armenian Music, and based on his many years of research and musical performances, Kazarian will address the accuracy of transcription, authenticity and the documentation of Western Armenian music.

Hachig Kazarian was born in Detroit, Michigan to immigrant parents of the Armenian Genocide. He is a retired secondary instrumental music educator with 46 years of teaching experience, which includes a suburban Detroit school system and the Clark County schools in Las Vegas, Nevada. He received his professional credentials from the Juilliard School of Music, where he earned a B.S. and M.A. degree in clarinet performance. He also attended Eastern Michigan University, where he received an M.A. degree in Music Literature/Ethnomusicology. Kazarian has performed Western Armenian music for many Armenian churches, societies and patriotic organizations throughout the United States. He has been a leading role model for many young Armenian-American clarinetists for decades and performs as he was taught by an Armenian immigrant musician.