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Yerevan’s Arno Babajanyan Concert Hall will host a concert of the Naghash Ensemble entitled "Songs of Wisdom" on January 21.

The Naghash Ensemble combines the earthy spirituality of Armenian folk song, new classical music, contemporary post-minimalism, and the energy of jazz and rock. Three brilliant female vocalists and some of Armenia’s finest instrumentalists on duduk, oud, dhol, and piano play new music based on sacred texts by the medieval Armenian mystic poet and priest, Mkrtich Naghash.

Since 2014, the ensemble has been touring regularly in Europe, including performances in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Armenia. The ensemble plays at classical music venues, sacred music festivals, world music series as well as rock and jazz festivals.

Their concerts have been described as "a moment of grace and meditation" (Rolling Stone), "a sacred beauty that incites a mixture of joy and ecstasy" (Trans Musicales) and "music that is foreign and familiar, earthy and otherworldly" (WDR 3).

The Naghash Ensemble's first CD, forming the first volume of the three-volume project "Songs of Exile" was released in 2014, followed by the ensemble's first international tour. The second CD "Songs of Exile, Volume II: Credos & Convictions" followed in 2016. The third CD, "Songs of Exile, Volume III: Lamentations & Benedictions" was released in late 2019.

The German radio station BR Klassik describes the ensemble's second CD as an "intersection of classical music, jazz, folk and post-minimalism", with "music that draws from old and new worlds, from everything John Hodian encountered on his way from Philadelphia to New York and Yerevan, and which forms something like a musical home to him. It's equally influenced by Bach, Steve Reich and Joni Mitchell, as it is by the Armenian music he grew up listening to at his parent's home."