On November 8, 2025, the concert-exhibition “Arutiunian, Saryan, Mozart” took place in the historic St. Paul’s Church in Westminster, London.
This exclusive event was organized by the “Klingen Choir and Cultural Association” and was the largest Armenian classical music concert of 2025 in the United Kingdom.
A special exhibition dedicated to the 145th anniversary of the legendary painter Martiros Saryan was presented, featuring replicas of his paintings provided by the Martiros Saryan House-Museum in Yerevan.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United Kingdom, Varuzhan Nersesyan, delivered the concert’s opening speech. In his remarks, he introduced the great composers, mentioning Saryan’s significant artistic legacy and influence on 20th-century Armenian painting. The Ambassador congratulated all the musicians for the preparation of this voluminous and rich concert programme. He highly praised the dedicated work of the British-Armenian Maestro Sipan Olah for disseminating and regularly performing Armenian classical music with various orchestras, choirs, and ensembles in the United Kingdom, European countries, Asia, and America.
This year marks the 105th birth anniversary of Armenian composers Alexander Harutyunyan and Ghazaros Saryan. Maestro Sipan Olah, the “Klingen Chamber Orchestra,” the “Klingen Choir,” and the concert soloists performed the works of these renowned composers.
Alexander Arutiunian’s Lyric Concerto for Violin was uniquely interpreted by the British-Armenian violinist Ani Batikian. Ani and the Klingen Chamber Orchestra had previously presented the Violin Concerto in London in 2022, also under the direction of Maestro Olah, and once again the audience was delighted and had the opportunity to enjoy this exceptional composition at this concert.
Ghazaros Saryan’s work, “Orchestral Serenade,” was performed by London-based oboist Hagop Mouradyan. He has performed this and other works by Լ. Saryan in six countries under the direction of Maestro Sipan Olah.
Another phenomenal composition by Arutiunian, the Piano Concertino, was performed by the phenomenal Vienna-based pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, whom Maestro Olah had specially invited from Vienna to give the London premiere of this Concertino.
Soprano Hayarpi Yeghikyan enriched the concert with her beautiful voice, performing Saryan’s romance “Chem Moranum” (I can’t forget you) with the orchestra and the Klingen Choir. Only three weeks prior, Hayarpi had concluded her performances with the Armenian National Chamber Orchestra in France and the USA, presenting songs by Armenian composers on major stages under Sipan Olah’s leadership.
With his unique tenor voice, Maestro Olah performed Լ․Saryan’s romance “Inchu Ushatsar” (Why were you late) with his orchestra.
The first part of the concert concluded with Al. Arutiunian’s and the all-Armenian poet Hovhannes Tumanyan’s monumental song-cantata “Hayrenikis Het” (With My Homeland), featuring Sipan Olah’s new and exclusive orchestral and vocal-choral arrangement. This soulful joint performance by sixty musicians—the orchestra, the Klingen Choir, and soloists—brought the audience to a pinnacle of emotion and catharsis at the end of the first part of the concert, which was followed by thunderous applause and shouts of “bravo.”
In the second part of the concert, the “Klingen Chamber Orchestra,” with its full string and wind section, performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masterpiece, the Symphony No. 40 in G minor. This was Maestro Sipan Olah’s first performance of this complex four-movement symphony, which he interpreted with his unique approach, a modern and colourful logic of rhythms and dynamics, ensuring a multi-layered contrast and melody in every section of the composition. The movements of his hands and his facial expressions kept all the orchestra musicians in harmonious synthesis, sharing a singular logic and mood.
The audience’s admiration and impressions were boundless.
Attendees of the evening included councillors from the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Chairman of the Armenian Community Council of the UK Karen Arevyan, Reverend Shnorhk Baghdassarian, the trustees and members of the Parish Council of St. Sarkis Church, directors of Armenian Saturday and Sunday schools, as well as more than 35 students and over 280 music-loving British and British-Armenian spectators.
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