Pianist Aram Arakelyan of Yeravan, Armenia, Performs at 2015 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar

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Aram Arakelyan, a pianist from Yerevan, Armenia, will be featured in the 2015 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

POTSDAM, NY (05/13/2015)(readMedia)-- Aram Arakelyan, a Los Angeles-based pianist originally from Yerevan, Armenia, is among only nine rising musicians chosen from a national search to take part in the 2015 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.

Now in its fourth season, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar will feature Arakelyan in masterclasses and concerts from May 18 to May 24 at The Crane School of Music at The State University of New York of Potsdam. Audiences will be able to take in world-class recital performances and masterclasses throughout the week.

Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe '92 co-founded the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, along with Executive Director Dr. Carleen Graham, a professor of opera at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. The program, which is in residence at the College, provides a unique opportunity for emerging singers and pianists to cultivate their artistry through American art song written by living composers.

Six singers and three pianists between the ages 23 and 35 were selected from a competitive national audition to work with Blythe and Music Director Dr. Alan Louis Smith, a noted pianist, vocal coach and composer, who is also a member of the faculty at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and at the Tanglewood Music Center. Rounding out the team is Associate Director Audrey Saccone '12, digital media manager for OPERA America in New York City.

The 2015 Fall Island participants include:

• Aram Arakelyan, a pianist from Yerevan, Armenia
• Stephen Carroll, a tenor from Scotch Plains, N.J.
• Daniel Fung, a pianist from Vancouver, Canada
• Kristina Saar Gaschel, a soprano from Castleton, N.Y.
• Jonathan Johnson, a tenor from Macon, Ga.
• Gloria Kim, a pianist from Houston, Texas
• Lauren-Rose King, a soprano from New York City
• Lydia McClain, a soprano from Latrobe, Penn.
• Bradley Smoak, a bass from Cary, N.C.

The nine emerging artists will take part in an immersive series of coaching sessions, masterclasses, lectures and recitals. The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar is aimed at reinvigorating individual artistry through American art song, by hand-picking emerging artists of unique and promising ability.

Blythe will present works by special guest composer-in-residence Ricky Ian Gordon for a recital featuring his music on Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m., in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. All nine fellows, along with Blythe and Smith, will perform on the evening's program.

Tickets for "An Evening with Ricky Ian Gordon" are $25 for the general public and $20 for SUNY Potsdam faculty, staff and students. All proceeds will benefit the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. To purchase tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277 or visit www.cpspotsdam.org.

This year's Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar will feature three public masterclasses, where Blythe and Smith will work with the Fall Island participants. The masterclasses will all be offered from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Thursday, May 21, Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23. All masterclasses will be held in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater.

A culminating recital featuring the seminar participants will be held on Sunday, May 24 at 2 p.m. in Snell Theater. These events are free, educational and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

About the artist:

Los Angeles-based pianist Aram Arakelyan has performed collaboratively and as a soloist throughout the United States and his native Armenia. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California, where he is a teaching assistant in the keyboard collaborative arts area. At the USC Thornton School of Music, Arakelyan serves as the pianist for the Chamber Singers, directed by Jo-Michael Scheibe, with whom he performed at the tenth World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul, Korea. He also collaborates extensively with fellow students from both instrumental and vocal areas. Arakelyan served as one of the official collaborators in the 2014 Primrose International Viola Competition. He has worked with the Meadowmount School of Music in West Port, N.Y., and is currently a member of the accompanying staff at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Aram has worked as an orchestral keyboardist in symphonic, operatic and choral settings with conductors including Gerhardt Zimmermann, Jerry Junkin, Barlow Bradford, Scott Yoo, Robert Spillman and Helmuth Rilling, and has appeared in masterclasses with Joseph Silverstein, Lynn Harrell, Masao Kawasaki, Sally Thomas, Brian Zeger, Gordon Back, Jon Nakamatsu and John Novacek. He has also appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Colorado and Utah. Arakelyan holds degrees from the University of Utah and the University of Texas at Austin. His primary teachers and mentors include Susan Duehlmeier, Anne Epperson, Norman Krieger and Alan Louis Smith.

About the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar:

Now in its fourth season, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar provides a venue for emerging professional singers and collaborative pianists to explore the highest level of creativity and musicianship in a nurturing and intimate setting. Led by Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe as Artistic Director, and Music Director Alan Smith, along with Executive Director Carleen Graham and Associate Director Audrey Saccone, the seminar has invited six singers and three pianists to Potsdam, NY, for a week of intimate and intensive study. All music performed during the week is by living American composers. To learn more about the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.fallisland.org.

About The Crane School of Music:

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution. For more information about The Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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