Berj Zamkochian

Berj Zamkochian was a consummate musician, an ardent Armenian, and a deeply spiritual man that lived to delight his fellow man with music, with wit, and with many a story. His musical accomplishments were 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 performances were dedicated to luminaries such as the late Catholicos, Vasken I, Gomidas Vartabet, to beloved musicians such as Charles Munch, Harry Ellis Dickson, and Lucineh Zakarian, and to anniversaries such as the 1700th anniversary of Armenian Christendom and annually, the Armenian Genocide. Beyond simply concerts, he created the Gomidas Organ Fund and participated with Rouben Gregorian in the first Armenian Night at the Pops established by Robert Hagopian in 1951. Zamkochian helped found and later served as a Board Member for the Friends of the Armenian Cultural Society which has continued and cultivated the tradition of Armenian Night at the Pops for nearly 50 years. Armenian Night at the Pops has united Armenians throughout the greater Boston area every year for over 53 years.

As a musician, Zamkochian’s accomplishments spanned the world. Zamkochian made his debut recital in Boston’s Symphony Hall at the age of 24 and the Boston Herald hailed the event with : "this young Bostonian stands well among the top Organists of the day". A native Bostonian, Zamkochian was the first to graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music for his work on organ and later served on the faculty. In 1957, the late Charles Munch appointed him Organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and that same year, Arthur Fiedler announced his appointment as Organist of the Boston Pops Orchestra. The recordings he produced under Munch and Fiedler won Zamkochian international acclaim. He represented the Organists of the U.S. at the Third World Congress of Sacred Music in Paris and in 1965 became the first North American organist to tour the Soviet Union. In 1987 he was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of the Reubke Sonata on the 94th Psalm. His recordings of the
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony and the Poulenc Organ Concerto remain a legend. The re-release by RCA of both works on a single CD was hailed by the New York Times as : "one of the 50 most important recordings of all time".

The Poulenc Concerto in G minor for Organ, String Orchestra and Timpani was not only a hallmark piece for Zamkochian, it was performed on many of his most memorable programs. Under Arthur Fiedler and Harry Ellis Dickson, Zamkochian often revelled Boston Pops audiences with the Albinoni Adagio and portions of the Handel Organ Concerto. Under Zamkochian’s direction, the Regis College Glee Club also had many occasions to perform with the Boston Pops.

In 1971, Zamkochian was appointed Organist of the World Symphony Orchestra representing the Boston Symphony. With the World Symphony he played the Dedicatory Concerts for the openings of the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), and Disney World (Orlando, FL). He performed regularly in Eastern and Western Europe, Canada and the Far East, and concertized on all continents. He appeared as soloist with major symphony orchestras of the world including the New York Philharmonic, Tokyo NHK Orchestra, Moscow Radio Orchestra, Erevan State Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Washington Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic. Zamkochian played command performances for six U.S. presidents, various heads of state, royalty, and the ecclesiastic heads of the world’s oldest churches, including several Popes and the Armenian Catholicos.

Zamkochian also played the Dedicatory Recitals on many of the world’s great organs including the Cathedral Churches of St. Joseph (Hartford,), Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington), Sts. Peter and Paul (Providence), St. Peter (Cincinnati), Sacred Heart (Gallup) and the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin (the oldest Christian Church in the World). In 1983 Berj Zamkochian dedicated the largest organ in the world at the Temple of the Shinji Schumei Kai in Shiga, Japan for an audience of 40,000. In Brauweiller, Germany he played for the rededication of the organ in the 12th Century Abbey Church of St. Nicholas.

Zamkochian directed much of his efforts towards charitable causes. In 1970 Zamkochian established the Gomidas Organ Fund to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the celibate priest and Armenian composer and ethnomusicologist Gomidas Vartabet (1869-1935). Gomidas, born Soghomon Soghomonian in Kutahia Turkey, was orphaned at an early age and sent to Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Prior to his ordination as Vartapet, Gomidas mastered the art of Armenian liturgical singing and researched Armenian folk and sacred music. Through the generosity of Zamkochian and many friends and supporters, the Gomidas Organ Fund has donated more than 22 organs throughout the world, with many in places of worship and centers of education.

The organs donated to the Gomidas Conservatory in Erevan created an organ department. The Gomidas Organ Fund placed thirteen organs in Armenia, including the Cathedrals of Etchmiadzin and St. Huripsime, and Churches of St. Sarkis and the Baptist Church in Erevan. The Gomidas Organ Fund also sent an organ to the Armenian Monastery of the Mekhitarist Fathers in San Lazzaro, Venice, Italy, providing the Monastery with its first organ in its 275 year history. Other organs have been installed in England and Switzerland. In the U.S., the Gomidas Organ Fund placed organs in many churches including the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross (Belmont, MA), St. Vartan’s Cathedral (New York), and the first organ in its history in the Chapel of St. Nerses Seminary (New Rochelle).

In addition to countless organ dedicatory performances, Berj Zamkochian performed an annual concert to benefit the Gomidas Organ Fund for over 30 years in the Methuen Memorial Music Hall on the original instrument used by the Boston Symphony in the Old Boston Music Hall prior to its dismantling. These concerts featured many rising and accomplished artists and occasional premieres. After the tragic earthquake of 1988 in which he lost 72 members of his extended family, Zamkochian temporarily suspended the projects of the Gomidas Organ Fund to raise over $100,000 through his benefit concerts and more than 2 million dollars in combined efforts and benefit performances with other artists.

Distinctive honors have been bestowed upon Zamkochian by the Pope Paul VI, the late Cardinal Agagianian, and His Holiness Catholicos Vasken I. In 1980 Zamkochian became the first non-native born Armenian to be received into the Armenian Academy of Arts and Sciences ; in 1983 the Government of Armenia presented him with the Bedros Atamian Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts, and the Ministry of Culture elected him People’s Artist and Honorary Soloist in 1991. In 1991, the Armenian Mekhitarists of Venice bestowed upon him Honorary Membership in the Order of the Mekhitarist Community, and presented him with the Gold Medal of the Founder Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste. In 2000, Zamkochian received the Mesrob-Mashtoz Medal, the highest award of the Armenian Church. During the Armenian Jubilee Year 1700, Zamkochian played in many of the world’s major cathedrals including Notre Dame Harissa in Lebanon, St. Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame Paris, the National Cathedral in Washington, St. Patricks’ Cathedral in New York, and the consecration of the new St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Erevan for the visit of His Holiness Pope John-Paul II to Armenia.

Zamkochian gave one of his last performances in November, 2003 for the Pope in Rome. His left foot was painful and hampering his mobility, and only later diagnosed as cancer that had metastacized pervasively. As he hobbled to the organ console, the fragile and ailing Pope asked Zamkochian whether he would be able to play, to which Zamkochian replied in his deep and penetrating voice "if you can talk, I can play".

Donations in his memory may be made to the Gomidas Organ Fund, c/o Charles W. Jack, 16 Robinhood Road. Natick, MA 01760 or to the Congregazione Armena Machitarista of Venice, Italy. Send c/o Attorney Joseph S. Carnabuci, 21 Torrey Street, Brockton, MA 02301.