On Oct. 2, fans of classical music living in Los Angeles had the honor of seeing Sergey Khachatryan, a world renowned violinist, display his magnificent talent at a concert at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. His performance was inspirational, filled with passion and brilliance.

Khachatryan’s bright, young age of 31 did not match the level of expertise he portrayed. It seemed impossible that someone so young could be capable of having such a graceful, stunning talent.

The program was comprised of the music of Aram Khachaturian, a famous Armenian composer from the Soviet Union. The concert began with the Belfry Symphony Orchestra playing both the American and Armenian national anthem, and then going on to play Khachaturian’s well-known “Gayane” Ballet Suite and “Spartacus” Ballet Suite. These two performances were impressive, but were nothing compared to the performance the audience witnessed after the intermission when Sergey Khachatryan began to play.

After the short intermission, the orchestra, joined by Sergey Khachatryan, began to play Khachaturian’s “Violin Concerto in D.” This piece has three different sections, each one taking about ten minutes to complete. Although these were slightly longer pieces, they were still very enjoyable. During the time that Khachatryan was on stage, the orchestra remained seated, while Khachatryan, being the main focus of the entire concert, stood center stage. The orchestra acted as a background accompaniment throughout Khachatryan’s performance but also remained silent at times to let Khachatryan play solo.

At the end of the concert, Sergey Khachatryan received a well-deserved standing ovation. A couple of minutes passed, and the audience was still applauding him and giving him flowers. Khachatryan, honored by this act, urged the audience to sit down again and gave a surprise, unplanned performance. He played one of prominent Armenian composer and singer Komitas’s folklore songs, “Apricot Tree.” This was an especially lovely performance because of the passion and emotion he exhibited while playing.

Especially compelling was when Khachatryan played the same melody in two different tonalities simultaneously, something that seems impossible to do. The two tonalities could be heard so clearly that you would think there were two violins being played instead of just one. Listening to Sergey Khachatryan’s grand performance made it clear that such skills in an artist of such a young age is due to the strong will and determination of the violinist.