The Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies, in collaboration with the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice and the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore – Benedicti Claustra Onlus, presents a concert of Armenian sacred music, organised as part of the celebrations for the
850th anniversary of the death of St Nerses Shnorali, the Gracious (1102–1173), Catholicos of the Armenians, one of the most eminent figures in the spiritual, cultural and also musical panorama of the Armenian territory.
This commemoration is particularly significant for the international Armenian community and is also included in the UNESCO commemorative programme for 2022–2023. The Saghmosergu Choir, directed by maestro Vahé Begoyan and comprising fifteen singers, has been invited to San Giorgio for the occasion.

The choir will perform songs written by St Nerses in the middle of the twelfth century in three separate parts. The first part will be dedicated to songs composed for the holy mass; the second will feature songs from the breviary; while the third will feature songs from the Armenian liturgical
hymnal. Each part will be introduced with a short talk by Professor Mher Navoyan, medieval musicologist, of the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Head of the Popular Music Department of the Institute of Arts of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.

Admission to the concert, in the setting of the Palladian Basilica, is free of charge.