The Gomidas Organ Fund, Inc.

A Gift from the Gomidas Organ Fund
In Memory of Berj Zamkochian

This week's appearances of organist Simon Preston are supported by a gift from the Gomidas Organ Fund, in memory of organist Berj Zamkochian. Zamkochian's musical accomplishments spanned the world, often intertwined with his passion for the history, culture, and fate of the Armenians, as well as his own deeply seated faith. Many of his efforts were for charitable causes. Zamkochian made his debut recital in Symphony Hall at the age of twenty-four, the Boston Herald noting at that time: "This young Bostonian stands well among the top organists of the day." He was the first organ major to graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music and later served on the faculty. In 1957 he was appointed organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra by Charles Munch and organist of the Boston Pops Orchestra by Arthur Fiedler. The recordings he made under Munch and Fiedler won Zamkochian international acclaim. The reissue by RCA of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony and Poulenc's Organ Concerto on a single CD was hailed by the New York Times as "one of the 50 most important recordings of all time." Berj Zamkochian participated in and helped Robert Hagopian establish the first Armenian Night at the Pops, a Boston tradition for over fifty-four years. In 1970 Zamkochian established the Gomidas Organ Fund to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian composer, priest, and ethnomusicologist Gomidas Vartabet. Berj Zamkochian performed an annual concert to benefit the Gomidas Organ Fund for over thirty years in the Methuen Music Hall on the instrument used by the BSO in the Old Boston Music Hall prior to its removal and relocation from the BSO's original home.