# Vahram Sargsyan

Vahram Sargsyan (Armenian: Վահրամ Սարգսյան) is an Armenian Canadian composer, choral conductor and experimental vocalist currently living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

## Biography

Vahram Sargsyan studied composition with Ashot Zohrabyan at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory from 1998 to 2003, where he also studied choral conducting with Tigran Hekekyan from 2000 to 2006. He also studied composition at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University with composer Philippe Leroux.
Sargsyan's music has been performed in Armenia, UK, Germany, Austria, Belarus, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Poland, Italy, Japan, Canada, as well as in the United States. His composition Luis Zvart was performed at the 6th World Symposium on Choral Music (Minneapolis, Minnesota 2002). His arrangement of Khorurd Metz (Great Mystery) is included in the Oxford University Press anthology World Carols for Choirs (2005) and has been recorded by BBC Singers. It has been broadcast by BBC Radio 3.
He has had commissions from Oxford University Press (UK), A.R.CO.VA.(Italy), Boston Choral Ensemble (USA), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Germany), AGBU Foundation (USA), CBC Radio and others. Sargsyan's work Hunting the Hunter was premiered under his own baton in 2012 at Carnegie Hall.
Vahram Sargsyan's name has appeared in Who is Who in Choral Music since 2007. He is a member of Composers' Union of Armenia. He served as a music consultant for European Choral Association - Europa Cantat from 2010 to 2012.

## Awards

* Artiste de l’année à Laval (Quebec, Canada 2024)
* Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music . (Canada 2023, for Quiet Songs)
* The winner award in the POLYPHONOS 2017 Commission Competition (Seattle, USA 2016)
* Third prize in the Godfrey Ridout Awards from the Socan Foundation (2012, for Tribulationes);
* The winner award in the 3rd BCE Commission Competition (Boston, USA 2010, for Tribulationes)
* 1st prize in the International Contest for New Choral Compositions (Petrinja, Croatia 2009, for Anegh Bnutiun);
* An award from the World Armenian Congress “for creative achievements” (2009, for Mythis);
* Co-winner award at the European Seminar for Young Composers (Aosta, Italy 2008, for Laudate Dominum);
* An award in the Choral Composition Competition in Yerevan, Armenia (2006, for Tantum ergo).

## Selected works
### Orchestral

* 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
* Music for 13, large ensemble (13 players), 2002
* Selbstvergessenheit, 2 clarinets, cello, piano, 2006
* Deux Silhouettes Féminines (texts by Paul Fort, Yeghishe Charents), soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 2007
* Hunting the Hunter, clarinet, marimba, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano, 2012
* deperson, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 2013
* Gandz, large ensemble, 2013

### Choral

* Tkhur meran - Sadly Departed (text by Vahan Terian), female chorus, 1999
* Kesgisher - Midnight (text by Vahan Terian), 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 aeterna, 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 Shnorhali), female chorus, 2008 (also version for male chorus, 2009)
* Dzaynik (text by Komitas Vardapet), female chorus, 2009
* Ilik (folk text), female chorus, 2009
* Stabat Mater, mixed chorus, 2010
* Tribulationes (excerpts from the Psalms), mixed chorus, 2010
* Wage Peace (text by Judyth Hill), mixed chorus, 2011

### Piano

* Visions, 1997
* Variations, 1999

### Arrangements

* Sirt im sasani - My Heart Is Grieving over Judas (13th-century Armenian choral), mixed chorus, 2002;
* Khorurd metz (Movses Khorenatsi), mixed chorus, 2002
* Ousti Guqas (Sayat-Nova), clarinet, marimba, cello, 2012