Interview with The Elixir Piano Trio

The Athena Foundation for the Arts is gearing up for our 2025 Season’s inaugural concert! It’s a pleasure and a privilege to have The Elixir Piano Trio, with pianist Dr. Lucy Nargizyan, violinist Samvel Chilingarian, and cellist Fang Fang Xu, open the program.

For those who haven’t yet heard of these remarkable musicians, here’s a little background.

Dr. Lucy Nargizyan

Dr. Lucy Nargizyan has been featured as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and Mexico. Her performances have been broadcast on Classical KUSC radio and more. She has performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall several times as part of the LA Philharmonic Chamber Music Series as well as with the International Chamber Ensemble of Rome, the USC Thornton Chamber Orchestra, and several local orchestras.

Dr. Fang Fang Xu

Dr. Fang Fang Xu earned her Doctoral degree in Cello Performance from USC. She has performed at prominent international music festivals in Europe and Mexico with eminent conductors. She has been a guest soloist with several notable symphonies and has performed with the LA Philharmonic and LA Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Xu has performed at Carnegie Hall and Disney Concert Hall.

Mr. Sam Chilingarian

Mr. Chilingarian enjoys a varied career as a performer, educator, and conductor. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, Japan, the United States, and Central America at prestigious concert halls with a variety of venerable ensembles and orchestras.

I have been following The Elixir Piano Trio on social media for some time. Their pianist, Dr. Lucy Nargizyan, graciously made the time to attend an Athena concert last year. She made a point to introduce herself, expressing such enthusiasm for our immersive concert style, and inquired if The Elixir Piano Trio might be included in a future Athena concert series. I was thrilled to hear and presented her proposal to the board. The vote was unanimous – The Elixir Trio will open our 2025 concert series!

Now, before each concert, we enjoy a tradition of “breaking the ice” by introducing our guest musicians. So, grab a comfy chair and your favorite winter beverage, and enjoy the conversation.

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LRW: Lucy, Fang Fang, and Samvel, it’s an honor to have The Elixir Piano Trio open The Athena Foundation for the Arts 2025 Concert Season! Thank you for allowing us to interview you about your fantastic program. But first, may I ask, how did you three meet?

LN: Fang Fang and I (Lucy) met at USC years ago when we were students. Sam knew Fang Fang professionally through some collaborations.

LRW: I love hearing about connections through music. For your upcoming Athena program, may I ask how did you decide on the pieces curated for the concert? Why these composers? Why now?

LN: We wanted to include women composers in our program. That’s why we decided to program Clara Schumann’s work as well as selections by Jennifer Higdon, who is an American modern composer.

FFX: We also love the Rachmaninoff Trio. We thought it was a wonderful addition to our program, full of passion and drama.

SC: We’ll be ending our concert with short, fun pieces by Aram Khachaturian, representing a very different mood and atmosphere from the Rachmaninoff.  We think it’s a wonderful way to end the concert. We always try to include works that the audience might not be familiar with.

LRW: We share similar passions. More women composers need to be heard. I’m excited for your performances of works by Clara Schumann and Jennifer Higdon. That Rachmaninoff Trio is so exquisite. The Khachaturian ballet is new to me and I can’t wait to hear it. Can you please hint at the imagery selected? How did you decide which image to pair with each piece?

LN: We paired Clara Schumann’s trio with some beautiful paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, who is a German romantic artist. His paintings convey an emotional response to the natural world, just like Clara Schumann’s music, full of emotion, beauty, and passion.

FFX: Jennifer Higdon’s selections are Pale Yellow and Fiery Red. We chose public domain images that correspond to the colors and moods of the two contrasting movements.

SC: The Mikhail Nilov image, “Woods Covered in Snow” for Rachmaninoff’s trio portrays winter in Russia.

LN: For the Khachaturian pieces, we chose paintings by the famous 20th-century Armenian artist Martiros Saryan, the founder of modern Armenian painting. His works are marked by vibrant colors and emotional depth, which pairs well with Khachaturian’s music.

LRW: Ah, I love this! As an art and piano teacher, I’m thrilled to learn of artists and composers with whom I have not yet been acquainted. I’m looking forward to experiencing the pairing of these images with your stellar performances and sharing these treasured moments with my students. This satisfies one of Athena’s main goals – providing access to these concerts to the local teaching community. May I ask, do you have plans to record your stunning trios?

LN: Yes! We would love to record some trios.

LRW: Great! Please keep me posted so we may blog about it! Before we end this delightful interview, we always like to ask our guest interviewees for a favorite quote by a composer or musician that you’d like to share with our readers.

Lucy: Music is enough of a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music. ~ Sergei Rachmaninoff Share on X

Fang Fang: Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart. ~ Pablo Casals Share on X

Samvel: To play without passion is inexcusable! ~ Ludwig van Beethoven Share on X

Thank you for the inspo! We’re looking forward to your fantastic concert!

To learn more about these maestros, check out their website and follow them on social media.
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Join us at the concert and meet them in person. Here are the concert details. Hope to see you then!

CONCERT DETAILS:

Program Link

Date
Sunday, March 9, 2025

Time
Doors Open: 3:15 PM
Concert: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PDT
Delicious Complimentary Refreshments

Place
Community Auditorium
Church of Scientology of the Valley
11455 Burbank Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 91601

Disclaimers:
•The concert is hosted exclusively by The Athena Foundation for the Arts.
•It is Not a church event.
•The Community Auditorium is rented to nonprofits and charitable organizations.
• If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us. Thank you.

FREE Parking: Farmdale Avenue lot and Burbank Boulevard lot across the street and street parking

Tickets
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite here or scan the QR code at the door. Cash or Credit card payments also available.
Questions? Please feel free to email us. Hope you can join us!

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