Among the most significant Armenian singers in the early twentieth century, Zabelle Panosian made a small group of recordings in New York City in 1917-18. Unaccountably, she was then largely neglected as an artist for more than half a century. This volume by three dedicated researchers is the first effort to reconstruct the life and work of a woman who had an exceptional and cultivated voice — who toured the world as a performer and made a significant contribution to the cultural lives of the Armenian diaspora, the elevation of Armenian art song, and the relief of survivors of the Armenian genocide.

Panosian’s music is derived from a syncretic experience of Western Armenian village near the sea of Marmara and a passion for the coloratura sopranos she encountered in Boston. As an immigrant carrying the traumas of dislocation and the loss of her home, she transformed her grief into action, she dedicated her life to an expression of the greatest art she could imagine, both from her former life and her new life in America, and she created a path in her wake for her daughter to become a renowned dancer.

Tracing their story from the Ottoman Empire to New England, from the concert calls of Milan and Paris to California, Florida, and South America through two World Wars, the story of Zabelle Panosian is that of a serious talent recognized and remembered, dismissed and forgotten, year by year, waiting to be known and loved again.

Includes CD:

1. Groung (Crane) take 2
2. Im Sireli Zavagounks (My BeLoved Children) take 3
3. Mir Khor Babge Kerezman (Our Father’s Grandfather’s Grave) take 2
4. Caroun (Spring) untraced take
5. Tzain Dour Ov Dzovag (Give Voice 0 Lake) untraced take
6. Dec Getso (Benediction) take 2
7. KiUkia (Cilicia) take 1
8. Khavarel Yem (I Have Become Darkened) take 1
9. Togh Tcherke Bibool (Let the Nightingale Not Sing) take 2
10. Mi Lar Pibool (Don’t Weep, Nightingale) take 1
11. Charmant Oiseau (Lovely Bird from La Perle de Brasil) take 1
12. Tzain Dour Ov Dzovag (Give Voice 0 Lake) take 9
13. Caroun (Spring) take 3
14. Im Sireli Zavagounks (My Beloved Children) take 5
15. Groung (Crane) take 7
16. Tzain Dour Ov Dzovag (Give Voice 0 Lake) take 1
17. Caroun (Spring) take 1
18. Der Getso (Benediction) take 1
19. Im Sireli Zavagounks (My Beloved Children) take 4
20. Im Sireli Zavagounks (My Beloved Children) take 6
21. Groung (Crane) take 1