Composer shows promise

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CONSORTIUM, First Unitarian Church, Sunday.

The Contemporary Music Consortium is, in part, a forum for local composers. In addition to promoting new works, flutist and CMC co-director Laurel Ann Maurer is receptive to presenting music by young Utah composers.

At Sunday's matinee concert — the last for the current season — CMC spotlighted the pianistic and compositional talents of Karen Hakobyan.

The Armenian-born pianist and composer initially came to the United States to participate in the Gina Bachauer Young Artists competition. After being brought to the attention of composer Morris Rosenzweig at the University of Utah, Hakobyan was offered a scholarship to continue his studies at the U.

Three of Hakobyan's most recent works were played during Sunday's concert; two were also world premieres.

Hakobyan shows a great deal of promise as a composer. The three works are structurally sound and conceived on a large scale. What they lack are depth and expressive definition. They function on a superficial level and are emotionally uninvolved. Still, they are solid student pieces with some good ideas, and Hakobyan is without question a talented composer.

One of the pieces receiving its first performance Sunday was the young Armenian's Suite for Solo Violin in Five Movements. The work is dedicated to the memory of Mikhail Boguslavsky, a former violist with the Utah Symphony who passed away in March at the age of 79.

The suite is well-written, with its five movements interrelated to each other by various thematic and harmonic means, giving the work some well-defined cohesiveness. Jennifer Bogart gave a dynamic reading that was articulate and forceful.

The other world premiere was Hakobyan's Trio for flute, clarinet and piano, played by Maurer and Utah Symphony clarinetist Lee Livengood, with the composer at the piano. Hakobyan added a delightful coloristic touch to the music when Maurer switched to an alto flute and Livengood to a bass clarinet in the piece's contrasting lyrical section. The piano in this part added splashes of light to the dark-sounding woodwinds.

The young composer's final work on the program was his Piano Variations. Once again, Hakobyan did double duty as composer and pianist. The work is motoric, reminiscent of Prokofiev in its relentless energy. Hakobyan gave a technically agile and driven performance that captured the vigor and vitality of the piece.

The remainder of the concert consisted of Bohuslav Martinu's captivating "Madrigal Sonata" for flute, violin and piano; Leo Kraft's melodic Flute Variations, written for Maurer; and Henri Dutilleux's lyrical and sophisticated Sonatine for flute and piano.

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