Arshak Andriasov

Performing Concerts With Flutist Michelle Matts.

We played together at The 5th New York Andriasov Music Festival and in Virginia as well. These experiences will forever be a big part of my life. Flutist Michelle Matts and I rehearsed multiple times together and every time there is deep mutual respect as human beings. Her constant effort to perfect certain passages during our practice sessions made me extremely happy, because of our mutual respect for the music we played. It is such an important thing to give respect towards the composer and their works.

Having travelled to Virginia from Philadelphia to work on Iosif Andriasov’s Musical Sketch for Flute and Piano, I was super excited to meet with Michelle the very first time. We were LinkedIn buddies at first. Of course due to the difficulty to keep up with LinkedIn, we moved our friendship to Facebook Messenger. There, we would discuss various ideas on how to make this beautiful piece sound well. Luckily, social media brought a friendship that has lasted.

The 5th New York Andriasov Music Festival.

Performing at Hunter College Lang Recital Hall, where I gave the World Premiere of my First Sonata, brought a tear to my face. It is there, in 2000, I was going to perform my Seven Preludes for Piano with my dad present. Ultimately, this never happened due to his second heart attack. I did not perform that concert. After a short period of time after his death, I was given an opportunity to perform my First Piano Sonata. Of course, I took this opportunity. After that concert, there would be a long hiatus, about 15 years worth since I last performed in Lang Recital Hall. It was a magical experience. Having two of our family friends perform with me, and new performers as well, was a beautiful honor.

On the second concert, Michelle made it possible for me perform my father’s Musical Sketch for Flute and Piano together. As an addition, she was kind enough to include my Ballet for Piano into the program. We knocked our performance out of the ballpark. Everything seemed to go in sync and we just genuinely had a wonderful, fun time before, during, and after the performance. Even my Ballet brought such genuine love from the listeners that a member of the Richmond Symphony commissioned me to write a piece for her, which I happily did.

I cannot wait to get together with Michelle and have a round three with our performance. This will also be a purely joyful experience.