Saturday night, The 222 Art Gallery in Healdsburg transformed into an intimate night club hosting a piano/cello duet of featuring the Aznavoorian Sisters. The two ladies representing the US and their Armenian heritage have been performing together since their childhood. They were selected to perform when they were quite young with the Chicago Symphony and have gone on to tour internationally for decades. Pianist Marta Aznavoorian won the Cleveland Int'l Piano Competition and has earned multiple grammy nominations. In addition to her performance career, Marta serves on the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago. Cellist Ani Aznavoorian is a top prize winner at the Int'l Paulo Cello Competition and has performed as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic. Both sisters have garnered recognition for their virtuosity with classical masterworks and contemporary compositions. The evening's program featured a blend of composition from various nationalities of both classical works; Brahms' Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor and Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor. Marta noted the different styles between Debussy's composition as being more tonal and moody in comparison with Manuel De Falla 's (b. Spain 1876-1946) Suite Popular Espagnol. The other two more contemporary works were by Komitas Vartabed (b. Turkey 1869-1935) and Gregor Piatigorsky's (b. Russia 1903 -1976) Variations on a Paganini Theme which was a lively interpretation of a more classical composition. Both sisters played with artistry and great technical skill. The sisterly bond and enjoyment of playing together was apparent and added to the celebratory evening of expansive music.
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