Name: Armen Donelian & Armen Hyusnunts Quartet
Start: 2026-03-13T18:30:00-07:00
End: 2026-03-13T22:30:00-07:00
Location: The Century Room

Armen Donelian & Armen Hyusnunts Quartet

($25-$35 + DICE fees | 6:30pm & 8:30pm Shows) Armenian-American Jazz pianist and composer Armen Donelian, a native of New York, will join forces with visiting Armenian Jazz saxophonist and composer, Armen Hyusnunts for a special duo concert in a program of works from the American Songbook, Jazz Standards, treasured Armenian Folksongs and Original Compositions by the performers.
Armen Hyusnunts (saxophone) Armen Donelian (piano) Colin McIlrath (bass) Kenji Lancaster (drums)
For fifty years, pianist, composer and Fulbright Scholar ARMEN DONELIAN has distinguished himself as a performer, recording artist, producer, educator and author. In 25 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle and Far East, he has appeared as a featured solo pianist, band leader and with Jazz legends including Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker, Paquito D’Rivera, Mongo Santamaria and Billy Harper in major festivals (including the Tucson Jazz Festival), concerts and clubs. He met Armen Hyusnunts in Armenia in 1998 while performing in the Yerevan International Jazz Festival, starting a collaboration spanning several decades. Donelian was classically trained at the Westchester Conservatory of Music and received a Bachelor’s degree in music from Columbia University in 1972. His distinctive music blends diverse influences from his Armenian origin, his Classical technique and his association with some of the biggest names in Jazz.
A native of Armenia, ARMEN HYUSNUNTS received a Master’s degree in orchestral saxophone from the Komitas State Conservatory in 1993. For several years he was a member of Artashes Kartalyan’s Jazz Quartet, and in 1997 he formed the innovative ethnic jazz quintet, Time Report. A year later, he joined Arto Tunjboyajyan’s popular Armenian Navy Band. Since 1997, Hyusnunts has directed and played in the Armenian State Jazz Band. His talent in the role of conductor, bandleader, composer and arranger reached its peak in 2010 when he took leadership as its artistic director. Hyusnunts regularly appears in prominent international venues across the USA, Europe and Asia with noted artists including Armen Donelian, Vardan Ovsepyan, Hadriеn Feroud, Richard Bona and many others.