On March 12, George Stelluto will lead the Pasadena Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

The audience will also experience the enchanting beauty of Mendelssohn’s music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream plus a spectacular kanun concerto by Armenian master Khachatur Avetisyan played by Karine Hovhannisyan.

Hovhannisyan is regarded as the foremost kanun player of her generation. She studied with the legendary composer and kanunist Khachatur Avetisyan, whose most important works for the kanun include the virtuosic concerto for kanun and orchestra recorded with the Armenian Opera Orchestra, Asbarez reported

Kanun is a 72-string Middle Eastern lap harp, a descendant of the old Egyptian harp, and is related to the psaltery, dulcimer and zither.