The Life and Music of Armenian Soprano Zabelle Panosian | Ian Nagoski

E530 | Zabelle Panosian's ethereal music transfixed audiences from Boston to Paris in the early years of the twentieth century. Yet, by the 1960s, her work was all but forgotten. In this episode, we explore Panosian's life story and some of her exceptional music. What did it mean to leave behind an Ottoman homeland, only to watch the destruction of the 1915 Armenian genocide from afar? What was it like to be diva in Europe and an ambitious Armenian woman artist in the United States, only to be siloed into the category of "ethnic music" by major record labels as anti-immigrant sentiment rose? In this epsiode, we listen to many of Zabelle's songs to explore these questions and more with record producer and music researcher Ian Nagoski. Zabelle's story helps us to understand how and why 'serious artists' have been remembered or forgotten in the annals of American music, especially the immigrants among them. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2022/09/panosian.html Ian Nagoski is a music researcher and record producer in Baltimore, Maryland. He writes and lectures regularly and has produced reissue CDs, LPs, and digital releases for the Dust-to-Digital, Tompkins Square, Mississippi, Important, Sound American, and his own Canary Records. Suzie Ferguson is Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Smith College. She writes and teaches on the history of gender, sexuality, and political thought in the modern Arab world. CREDITS Episode No. 530 Release Date: 23 September 2022 Sound production by Suzie Ferguson Digitized audio, images, and bibliography courtesy of Ian Nagoski available at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2022/09/panosian.html