Past Highlights and Media Presence
Pegasus opened its 2024–2025 season with Americana, a program reflecting on the American musical landscape in all its triumph and turbulence. Highlights included Florence Price’s Andante Moderato, Piatigorsky’s Variations on a Paganini Theme with cellist Sergey Antonov, Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and a centennial celebration of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a bold new arrangement for 18 players, conducted from the piano by Hakobyan.
Pegasus’s 2019 Merkin Hall debut earned strong praise from New York Classical Review: “Hakobyan and his players punched out an incisive ritornello and snappy answers to the soloists, who played an exhilarating game of stretto tag.” Other highlights include a performance in Stamford, New York, showcasing American works and fulfilling Pegasus’s mission to bring world-class music to underserved communities.
Pegasus has been featured by media outlets such as Al Jazeera, Voice of America, Ardzagang Armenian TV, the Russian Television Network of America, The Voice of Armenians TV program, WGCH Talk Radio, WQXR New York Classical Radio, Get Classical, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, Broadway World, The New York Classical Review, and The Violin Channel.
Upcoming Projects
Pegasus opens its 2025–2026 season with Ravel150: Hidden Gems & Masterworks at Merkin Hall, celebrating Ravel’s 150th birthday. The program features pianist Nicolas Namoradze in the effervescent Piano Concerto in G Major, alongside Le Tombeau de Couperin, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, and a new arrangement of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for solo harp and chamber orchestra by Hakobyan. The season continues with Pegasus’s return to the TheraYouth Foundation at the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts in New Jersey, featuring Haydn’s Symphony No. 59 “Fire,” Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Sergey Antonov, Komitas’s Armenian Miniatures, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, and Hakobyan performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Throughout the year, Pegasus also presents a series of chamber programs showcasing the ensemble’s principals. The season concludes on May 15 with an All-Armenian Program, featuring distinguished soloists to be announced.
Looking ahead, Pegasus is preparing for its milestone 10th Anniversary Season (2026–2027) with ambitious programming that celebrates the orchestra’s artistic growth and mission. Plans include major collaborations with leading artists as well as Pegasus’s own principals. This reflects the core purpose of the organization: to elevate and empower the exceptional musicians who form the heart of Pegasus, honoring the artistic integrity and collaborative spirit on which the ensemble was founded. The season will also introduce Pegasus’s Concerto Competition, Young Artist Program, International Call for Works, and the launch of Pegasus Private Salons, culminating in the ensemble’s long-anticipated Carnegie Hall debut. These initiatives mark an inspiring new chapter for Pegasus — and their success depends on the generosity of those who believe in its mission and wish to help shape its future.
Commitment and Sponsorship
Pegasus is driven by a passion for artistic freedom, opportunity, and access. The ensemble supports music education, champions new voices, and builds bridges across diverse communities through music. The orchestra maintains a piano sponsorship with Yamaha, which provides instruments for select performances and helps support its mission to inspire and unite through sound.
“Hakobyan and Pegasus unleashed a performance that held the audience completely spellbound, filled with more energy, passion, and joyfulness than I have heard in some time.”
— New York Concert Review
Hailed by New York Concert Review as “a truly first-rate ensemble,” Pegasus: The Orchestra is a celebrated nonprofit ensemble based in New York that reimagines the orchestra for a new era. Founded in 2017 by Karén Hakobyan—pianist, conductor, and composer—Pegasus defies the traditional model with bold programming, artistic flexibility, and a commitment to rising talent. Like its mythic namesake, the winged horse of inspiration, Pegasus moves with freedom, creativity, and lift—bringing world-class music to concert halls, underserved communities, and unexpected spaces alike.
Fanfare Magazine described the orchestra’s Brahms as “a shattering experience, not to be missed.” The ensemble’s mission is to elevate emerging artists, foster innovation, and bring the orchestral experience to broader and more inclusive audiences.
For its first four years, Pegasus was in residence at Mana Contemporary Cultural Center, where it presented a diverse array of programs—from chamber orchestra and solo piano to jazz and youth-focused concerts. During the pandemic in 2021, Pegasus partnered with the Monira Foundation to launch a digital residency, streaming ten globally accessible concerts as part of its Baroque and Beyond season.
With a composer-arranger at its helm, Pegasus frequently performs orchestral works in special arrangements crafted by Hakobyan. These bespoke versions allow the ensemble to tour widely and perform in venues of all types—an artistic flexibility that is core to its identity. Its chamber series, featuring its world-class principals, offers intimate experiences that spotlight the ensemble’s collective artistry and individual brilliance.
Pegasus celebrated its Fifth Anniversary Season in 2022–2023 with a series of remarkable programs and collaborators. Its Lincoln Center debut featured all five Rachmaninoff piano concertos in a single evening, with five soloists and Maestro Hakobyan conducting. The season included performances of Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons in Oneonta, NY (alongside an educational concert for 750 schoolchildren), and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti at the DiMenna Center. In March 2023, Pegasus presented Tchaikovsky Competition medalist Suren Bagratuni in a vibrant program of Mozart, Schnittke, and Haydn at Christ & Saint Stephen’s Church in New York City.
The 2022–2023 Season Finale commemorated the 150th anniversaries of Scriabin and Rachmaninoff with a sold-out Merkin Hall concert featuring pianist Nicolas Namoradze in Scriabin’s rarely performed Piano Concerto. The program also included Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture and Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony.
The 2024 Season Finale featured pianist Asiya Korepanova in a stunning performance of Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto. New York Classical Review praised her “Rachmaninoff-like rubato and intensity” and lauded Pegasus for its “commanding energy and a strong sense of ensemble” in Dvořák’s New World Symphony.
Reviews