Nevarthe Jivelekian, Grikor Suni and the Victory Record Company of Malden, MA

A stunning and integral part of the Armenian musical tradition in the 20th century is that of Armenian classical singers. Their work extends largely out of the choral tradition of the Armenian Church and highlights a variety of musicologists and composers. (Continue reading below.)

Sopranos, often accompanied by piano or violin, codified and preserved a repertoire of Armenian Church hymns and folk songs as well as works by some of the foremost modern Armenian composers. Several women in this tradition recorded and performed prolifically in the United States, beginning in April 1917 with Zabelle Panosian, whose recording of Groung for Columbia Records was exceptionally popular. 

These early recordings were often published on independent labels, one of which was musicologist and composer Grigor Suni’s self-titled Suni label of Malden, MA, published by the Victory Record Co. The 1924 recording presented here features Nevarthe Shaghoian Jivelekian, and documents her collaboration with the famous Armenian composer Grikor Suni. The recording was made shortly after Suni’s immigration to the US and during his time living in Boston. Navarthe Shaghoian, later known under her married name Nevarthe Levon Jivelekian, was born in Van, Western Armenia in 1894 and immigrated to the United States in 1920. She petitioned for naturalization in Boston by 1922 and in 1927 she was residing in Malden MA, by 1930 she had moved to Watertown where she lived with her husband Levon, an automobile dealer, and their two sons. She performed around Boston throughout the 1920s and 30s at venues as notable as Symphony Hall. In addition she made regular appearances on radio both in Boston and California,  by 1935 she would resettle in the San Francisco area. In California she became the choral director of the Armenian National Chorus of San Francisco and in 1944 was performing with the San Francisco Opera. She continued to perform for radio in California and appears on at least two records from the area as well. Nevarthe passed away in San Francisco in June 1973 and we are fortunate to have this early recording, which stands as a document both of her talent in the early stages of her career as well as her relationship to the notable composer, Grikor Suni. 

Grikor Mirzaian Suni was born in 1876 in the village of Getabek, at the age of two his family would move to Shushi, in Karabagh and by 1891 traveled to Gevorgian Seminary in Echmiadzin where he would study with Kristapor Kara-Murza. In 1898 he received a scholarship to attend the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music where he spent six years and studied under Rimsky-Korsakov, until May 1904. Suni had an extensive career in composition, organization and presentation of Armenian choral work throughout Armenia before moving to America from Tiflis in 1923. Upon arrival to the States, he settled in Boston for some time where he established the Armenian Arts Society and recorded this disc of his own arrangements with Nevarthe, under the Suni label bearing his own name. He is heard here accompanying Nevarthe on piano. From Boston he moved to Philadelphia, continuing to work around the Northeast through the early 1930s until his passing in 1939. The Suni family has extensively documented his life and work through their Suniproject website.