Hamazkayin’s Mosaic V Concert to Showcase International Lineup

LOS ANGELES—Organized by the Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society, the Mosaic V concert will showcase an impressive international lineup of performers at the historic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse on Saturday, March 16.

The Mosaic V audience will experience traditional Armenian music set to contemporary rock tunes performed by Armenian-Lebanese singer Eileen Khatchadourian. Also hailing from Lebanon and renowned in the Middle East, DJ and music producer C-Rouge will blend modern Trance sounds with traditional Armenian melodies. Vocalist Elena Yerevan, who takes her stage name from her hometown, will perform Armenian classics on her guitar.

Among the local performers, Ayline Amirayan will incorporate classic rock and pop elements as she introduces original and cover Armenian folk songs with the accompaniment of cellist Garik Terzian and composer Greg Hosharian. The culturally diverse Eternal Mind Control will tell passionate stories about life with their intelligent lyrics and compositions influenced by rock, metal, funk, classical, ethnic, jazz, and blues. The concert will also debut music by Palm of Granite, featuring up-and-coming musician Raffi Semerdjian. It will certainly be a memorable night – a mosaic of six diverse bands, performing in both Armenian and English.

The celebration of music will begin at 7 p.m. in the beautiful courtyard of the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse with cocktails and tasty eats being served by local food trucks. Your dining experience will be complemented by the music of Sutra Club DJ Andre Vannes. The cocktail hour will be followed by the concert at 8 p.m.

Over the years, the Mosaic concerts have impressed audiences by introducing them to the talents of young Armenian musicians. In keeping with tradition, Mosaic V promises to wow concertgoers yet again.

Eileen Khatchadourian
Eileen Khatchadourian, born on 20-07-1978 in Beirut from an Armenian-Lebanese family. Grew up among the sounds of a piano, as her grandmother, father and aunt were all players, licensed from the conservatory of Rome. Which clearly justifies her love of music and classical operas as well as traditional Armenian music and songs.

In December 2008 Eileen launched her debut album “MIDAN”, an exquisite mixture of old Armenian traditional songs and alternative rock. “Midan ‘ was mastered at the Abbey Road studios in London.

In December 2009, MIDAN wont the “Best Rock Album’ at the Armenian Music awards Nokia theater, in Los Angeles.

In November 2009, Eileen was the opening act of Yann Tiersen at the International Beirut Rock festival.
In April 2010, Eileen launched her music video “Zartir Vortyag’ ,which was totally banned in Lebanon.

In September 2011, Eileen was the opening act of Serj Tankian at the International Beirut rock festival , she was acclaimed by a crowd of 3000 people.

Her flexible ,expressive and intense voice goes from mezzo-soprano to Alto, allowing her to sing different styles from jazz to blues to Aremenian , to oriental to French and of course Rock.

Her voice is known to move people’s feelings as she sings and this is one of the major reasons why Eileen became known, respected and loved by her audience.

She confessed in one of her interviews in Al Nahar ” When I am on stage, I feel home…”

Echoes and years of experimenting music and voices have proved her to be worthy of the calling ‘artist’, revealing the power of words unknown and strange sounds, reviving emotions as her voice flirts with music to create an experience worth witnessing.

C-Rouge
Born to an artistic family of composers and performers, Serouj Baghdassarian a.k.a.C-Rouge developed a passion for music at an early age. He became a DJ in his early teens, quickly moving on to music production.

Winner of the Armenian Music Awards 2009 in its category, C-rouge has 2 albums released, “Eternity” & “GenoTrancide”, both achieving the title “Best Seller Album” in Beirut’s Virgin Megastores. He will be releasing his 3rd album at MOSAIC V. C-rouge continues to produce and play music at clubs in the Middle East where he is one of the top sought after DJs.

Elena Yerevan
Elena was born in Yerevan in 1990. When she was just a young girl, her family moved to Russia, where Elena received a bilingual Russian and Armenian education. In 2003, she was admitted to Shchedrin Music School, where she studied the guitar and performed in school concerts in Tula and Kaluga. After graduating with honors from Shchedrin, Elena moved to Armenia, where she enrolled in the Romanos Melikyan College of Music. While she continued her education, she also worked as a guitar instructor. Her life as a performer was well underway, and she continued to have concerts after completing her college program. Over the years, Elena has had performances at the Museum of Aram Khachatryan in the “Francophonie en Armenie” festival, Shahumyan Square, and the Naregatsi Art Institute.

Ayline
Ayline Amirayan was born on June 20, 1970. After graduating from Ferrahian Armenian High School, Ayline majored in music at the local community college. During the last nine years, Ayline has performed at various
local community events, local band competitions, cafes, lounges, and private engagements. During the summer months, Ayline goes full force as a singer up north at Lake Tahoe, where she performs at various lake front restaurants, private engagements, wedding receptions and ski resorts.

This past October of 2012, Ayline performed at her very first Hamazkayin event as a solo guest singer where she sang her very first original Armenian song, “Ov Es Toon.” In addition, this past November of 2012, Ayline appeared at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, opening for the famous band, VIZA, where she performed her very first English original song, “Cotton.” Ayline will release her very first EP album at “MOSAIC V” which includes some originals and cover songs.

Raffi Semerdjian
Palm of Granite is born of the folk. It is a crucible in which human experience is smelted into a force of song. It is music that wishes to strike the psyche into awareness. It is a struggle between the polarity of revelation and confusion. Between history and truth. What we have been taught and what we have learned.

Since its conception in 2007, the project has continuously shed skin and evolved. At the center exists a constant of raw and organic sound, which is always preserved and keeps the balance between the disordered multitudes of characters across the music ranging from ethnic melodies to psychedelic rock.

In 2011, Raffi Semerdjian, core-songwriter and founder of POG, began working on his first release of Armenian songs at the Naregatsi Art Institute of Shoushi. Then, in Yerevan, worked on instrumentation with some of the institute’s musicians to add some of the soul of his heritage to the songs. For Raffi, there is always a separation between his two projects. It’s a dichotomy of human existence that is conveniently repressed by us all – our heads in the homeland, and our feet on foreign soil. The album, ArtHaroutioun, will be released at Mosaic V.

Eternal Mind Control
EMC came together as a two man crew back in 2010 and slowly grew into a solid hard rock band within a year. Working day and night, EMC has created a unique sound composed by five very different personalities and backgrounds. EMC is comprised of a culturally diverse band, a mixture of Armenian boys, Vardan, Nairi, Haik and Koko and a Colombian front woman by the name of Kat. The boys blare away on their musical instruments as Kat roars through her mic. The result, original material influenced by rock, metal, funk, classical, ethnic, jazz, and blues to say the least. The lyrics speak volumes about everyday life; the struggles and passions we all face. While combined with intelligent and creative instrumental composition, the songs hook the audience into the story. A live performance can be explained as nothing short of energetic, as the boys dance with their instruments and Kat bounces around the stage with her powerful and uplifting lyrics.