The AGBU New York Special Events Committee’s (NYSEC) Performing Artists in Concert is fast approaching and tickets are available now. The 8th annual event will take place on Saturday, December 5 at 8:00 p.m. at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York.

This year’s concert, “Melodies of Hope,” in honor of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, will bring together young musicians from Armenia, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Macedonia, Portugal and United States to pay tribute to the fact that Armenian music and culture are alive and thriving in 2015. The musicians in this year’s ensemble include: Arpine Azatyan (violin), Sona Barseghyan (piano), Vasko Dukovski (duduk and clarinet), Luke Ratcliffe Khachaturian (piano), Artur Mouradian (violin and viola), Talin Nalbandian (mezzo-soprano), Astghik Poghosyan (violin and artistic director), Tamara Sevunts (actress and poet) and Amy Tcheupdjian (cello).

Each musician participating in the concert has received an AGBU Performing Arts Fellowship, which has supported his or her training at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. This year’s ensemble includes graduates from the Shanghai Music Conservatory, Monash University of Melbourne, the Juilliard School and Cologne High Institute of Music.

The evening’s program will feature a diverse array of Western classical and Armenian composers. Along with lesser-known pieces by Sharafyan and Saryan, guests will also be treated to more popular Western classical hits and rare performances of works by the 10th century Armenian poet and monk Grigor Naregatsi, including readings of his poetry and a poem by Daniel Varoujan. This year’s concert will conclude with Gomidas’ “Tsiternak” (swallow in Armenian and a symbol of hope and freedom), arranged by Yang Yi and the students of the Shanghai Music Conservatory for the concert’s ensemble of musicians as their gift and sign of respect to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

Tickets for the benefit concert are on sale now. Seats are available in the orchestra and front balcony for $65 and in the rear balcony for $35. To purchase tickets through Carnegie Hall, call CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, visit www.carnegiehall.org, or call AGBU at (212) 319-6383.