“It is really fun to perform with the students, because I love the music. They love the music – it is written well,” said Dr. Arsen Jamkotchian.
Dr. Jamkotchian is a newly hired collaborative pianist in Fresno State’s Department of Music. He was born and raised in Glendale, California, and moved to Fresno in February of this year to begin his job. Dr. Jamkotchian has an extensive background in music, receiving his undergraduate degree in both Piano Performance and Computer Science at Chapman University. He continued his studies at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in New York, where he completed his Master’s degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree, while minoring in Pedagogy.
Like many other children, Dr. Jamkotchian was pushed to explore music by his parents, but soon discovered that it was a passion of his own. Starting on the piano around the age of 7, which is considered late for most pianists, he realized he needed to catch up. In college while hearing other musicians perform, he felt he needed to make up for the lost time.
“I spent a lot of sleepless nights, just practicing. My teacher in my undergraduate years, Grace Fong, was really great about filling in the gaps I had and helping with my technique and my artistry,” said Dr. Jamkotchian. He has worked with many other mentors and musicians such as Lyubov Sorochkina and Natalia Antonova.
“Everyone had a big impact on me because they all helped me through certain stages,” commented Dr. Jamkotchian.
One of Jamkotchian’s most recent achievements was at the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition in New York City where he placed second.
“I have always had a weird mindset about competitions in general, because music is so artistic, yet having people judge how you play and choose a better musician didn’t really make sense to me,” said Dr. Jamkotchian, who believes that artistry and musicality is not something that can be scored on paper, rather it is subjective to the listener.
“Throughout my career, my emphasis has been on getting the audience to feel, rather than being too concerned with playing every single note correctly. As impressive it is to watch and to listen to, sometimes you leave a concert like that unaffected. I always want to give it my best, even if it’s a little messy. I want people to leave like they experienced a new world or escaped reality,” said Dr. Jamkotchian.
Before coming to Fresno, Dr. Jamkotchian was teaching in Los Angeles, mainly to beginners and intermediate students.
“But what I feel I could provide best is teaching in higher education,” said Dr. Jamkotchian. “I enjoy this position very much because much of my work is getting to play music and work with students, but I would love to become a faculty member in the future.”
At Fresno State, Dr. Jamkotchian accompanies the choirs, rehearsing with them around four times a week. He also accompanies students for their recitals. They work together on scheduling rehearsals, and sometimes students come in needing a pianist for a recording. That is when Dr. Jamkotchian gets to work. This hectic schedule is rewarding in the end because he works with students to create beautiful music.
When asked what made him decide to come to Fresno State and what he thinks of it, Dr. Jamkotchian replied, “Fresno for me has always been this place in between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I had come up here once for a concert and a conference. The reason why I am here is because the opportunity presented itself. I like that it is close enough to go see family as well. I am still warming up to Fresno.”
Dr. Jamkotchian has focused on the works of Arno Babajanian and gave a lecture recital on him for his doctorate. “We were to pick a topic and talk about it for half an hour and then the remaining time we would perform. I wanted to incorporate some of my culture into something I could teach and hopefully make people more aware of. I started talking about his music at conferences and webinars. Babajanian is a big passion for me. I played some of his music and gave a lecture in Puerto Rico last summer and the people loved it. They were interested in where to find his music and excited to teach their own students about him. My whole goal was to spread that, and it felt good.”
Along with becoming a faculty member, Dr. Jamkotchian’s future goals include holding a big recital one day.
“I always try to perform as much as I can. I find more in playing other people’s music, than writing my own. It would be nice to play in the Saroyan Hall or Carnegie Hall… my ultimate goal,” concluded Dr. Jamkotchian.