Gohar Vardanyan walked into World History with Mr. McCall for her first day of classes at Interlochen Arts Academy. The TV was on, and horrible images were on the screen.
It was September 11, 2001.
Vardanyan had just come to northern Michigan from New York City. Her family was still there.
It was a terrible time, she says, but the support she got at Interlochen helped her through it.
She thrived at Interlochen, squeezing four years of high school into just three years.
After Vardanyan graduated, she attended Peabody and Juilliard, studying classical guitar with legends including Sharon Isbin and Manuel Barrueco.
This program includes excerpts from Vardanyan's senior recital at Interlochen as well as from her recent professional commercial albums.
Program details
All music is performed by Gohar Vardanyan
Dionisio Aguado, Introduction and Rondo (Interlochen Arts Academy, 2004)
Joaquin Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez; with pianist Susan Snyder (Interlochen Arts Academy, 2004)
Agustin Barrios, Un sueño en la floresta (2011 IPR Studio A recording)
Joaquin Turina, Sonata for Guitar (2014 album)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Sarabande from Lute suite no. 3, BWV995 (2020 album)
The archival recordings heard on this program are available thanks in part to the Association for Recorded Sound Collections' Classical Music Preservation grant, support from IPR listeners and the Hamer D. and Phyllis C. Shafer Foundation.
Michael Culler provided audio engineering support.
