The world’s oldest quartet has celebrated its first century. The Komitas National Quartet marked the 100th anniversary of its musical journey with a grand gala concert, concluding a year of jubilee events.
With the support of the Renaissance Foundation, the quartet toured Armenian regions and several European cities throughout the year, presenting anniversary concerts. During the gala evening, the founder of the foundation and the main supporter of the jubilee year, Artur Janibekyan, was awarded the Komitas National Quartet Medal.
“I don’t recall any other Armenian initiative that has been operating continuously for a hundred years. If there are any, they can probably be counted on one hand. It is a great happiness for us to be contemporaries of the Komitas Quartet.”
The quartet was founded in 1924 by four Armenian students of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory: Avet Gabrielyan, Levon Ohanjanyan, Mikayel Teryan, and Sargis Aslamazyan. At the time of its founding, the ensemble did not yet carry Komitas’s name. Over the years it was known as the Armenian Quartet and later the State Quartet, before eventually adopting the name of the great composer Komitas.
There are no other quartets in the world with a continuous century-long history. Although none of the founders lived in Armenia, the ensemble has always consisted exclusively of Armenian musicians. Over the decades, the quartet gained international recognition, the musicians were even received by John F. Kennedy at the White House. Artists painted their portraits and sculptors created works dedicated to them.
For nearly 90 years the ensemble consisted only of male musicians. In the most recent lineup, two female musicians joined the quartet.
Throughout its century-long history, the quartet named after the 155-year-old Komitas has had only two artistic leaders. In 1976, Avet Gabrielyan handed over both his Guarneri violin and the position of first violinist to Eduard Tadevosyan, who continues to lead the quartet to this day.