[photo credit: Elixir Piano Trio]
The Elixir Piano Trio, a Los Angeles-based chamber ensemble founded in 2004, brings pianist Lucy Nargizyan, violinist Samvel Chilingarian, and cellist Fang Fang Xu to the church’s Music at Noon series on January 21 at 12:10 p.m. The trio won the “Most Distinguished Musician” award at the 2005 IBLA International Competition in Italy.
The performers have ties to the local music community. Xu maintains a private teaching studio in South Pasadena and has served as String Coordinator of the Music Teachers Association of California’s Pasadena Branch. Chilingarian is the Artistic Director of Verdugo Young Musicians Association, which runs a youth orchestra program based in Pasadena modeled on Venezuela’s El Sistema. In 2007, his youth orchestra performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s International Youth Orchestra Festival.
Nargizyan and Xu hold doctoral degrees in music performance. Nargizyan earned hers from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Daniel Pollack, and now serves as Professor of Music at East Los Angeles College. In 2024, she received the Outstanding Educator Award from the California State Assembly, 49th District. Xu also holds a doctorate from USC and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2010 as solo cellist in Eric Whitacre’s “Paradise Lost.” Chilingarian, a native of Armenia who began violin at age five, trained at Cal State Northridge and the University of Missouri Kansas City before studying conducting in Vienna.
The ensemble performs traditional and modern repertoire that draws on classical, folk, and jazz influences. They have championed works by contemporary composers, including recordings of music by Los Angeles composer Penka Kouneva.
Music at Noon is a weekly Wednesday series at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, the city’s first church, established in 1875. The free 30-minute concerts begin at 12:10 p.m. in the sanctuary at 585 E. Colorado Blvd. The series is directed by Anita Protich and produced by Friends of Music at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
For information, call 626-793-2191 or visit ppcmusic.org/music-at-noon.
The trio’s concert follows recent Music at Noon performances by cellist Lars Hoefs and pianist Hyewon Chang.
