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AGBU's Musical Armenia Program Launches Young Artists' Careers

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  • AGBU's Musical Armenia Program Launches Young Artists' Careers

    AGBU's Musical Armenia Program Launches Young Artists' Careers

    ARTS | AUGUST 29, 2013 10:50 AM


    NEW YORK - In just one year, the AGBU Musical Armenia Program (MAP),
    which was launched last summer to connect talented young artists with
    their cultural heritage, has given participants even more: career
    opportunities.

    With MAP's support, Shaghig Amy Kazandjian, a recent college graduate
    from Canada and a French horn player, has landed a spot in the Yerevan
    State Opera and Ballet orchestra. The contract will keep Kazandjian in
    Yerevan through the upcoming fall season, where she's building on the
    weeks of intensive training that all MAP participants enjoyed.

    Kazandjian, who joined the Yerevan State Opera and Ballet in two
    summer concerts, wasn't the only MAP student to take the public stage
    in Armenia during the program, which ran from July 15 to August 4.

    Percussionist and composer Andrea Godoshian, who hails from Michigan,
    played alongside celebrated jazz musician Armen `Chico' Tutunjian and
    his band in a live show-and each of MAP's seven participants have
    their sights set on performing in the 2014 Renaissance International
    Music Festival in Gumri after receiving a personal invitation from the
    festival's director, pianist Karine Avdalyan.

    Avdalyan was one of the many renowned artists with whom the students
    met as they practiced playing the French horn, harp, percussions,
    viola, violin and singing and composing. Several performers taught
    back-to-back MAP seminars, including mezzo-soprano Anna Mayilyan and
    music historians Gagik Ginosyan, Mher Navoyan, Araxy Saryan and Arthur
    Shakhnazaryan. Each offered instrumental and vocal lessons in addition
    to lectures, which spanned genres and years, such as those on
    19th-century Armenian classical music, Armenian jazz and folk music,
    medieval spiritual music and 18th century Armenian minstrel music. For
    the MAP artists, who call Bulgaria, Canada and the United States home,
    it was an experience they could only find in Armenia.

    When the MAP participants weren't training with professionals, they
    were collaborating with some of Armenia's youngest artists. On a
    special trip to the Talin Music School with members of the global
    group El Sistema Armenia, they joined students in an interactive class
    focused on Komitas' work. The MAP students themselves were following
    in the footsteps of the legendary musician, who travelled across the
    country gathering and recording different songs and before leaving
    they gave a joint concert with the school's youth. AGBU Performing
    Arts Department Artistic Director Hayk Arsenyan commented on the
    significance of the visit, stating, `During the time we spent at the
    Talin school, we got to the heart of the MAP mission: to bring
    Armenians from around the world closer to the country's culture and
    arts. Watching the students collaborate, it became clear we
    accomplished that goal. They were inspired by everything they learned
    from the children of Talin and are sure to take the experience with
    them when they return home and move forward in their careers.'

    If the trip to Talin introduced the MAP group to Armenia's future
    generation of artists, museums tours helped them better understand the
    country's musical history. MAP brought the students to the
    house-museums of cultural icons Aram Khachaturian, Sergei Paradjanov,
    Alexander Spendiarian and Hovhannes Tumanyan for an intimate look at
    their lives and work. At Yerevan's Charentz Museum of Literature and
    Art, where PAD Director Arsenyan led a lecture on Armenian composers
    of the Ottoman Empire, they also had the opportunity to see firsthand
    the manuscripts and instruments owned by Armenia's earliest musicians,
    including Sayat Nova and Jivani. MAP participant Stephan Atamian of
    New York commented, `I realized throughout the summer that some of the
    only documentation we have of our musical heritage is archived in
    Armenia's wonderful museums. At the same time, I realized that it is
    up to us Armenian artists to bring those pieces to life as only music
    can.'

    At the final MAP gala concert on Sunday, August 4, in the salon of
    Khachaturian's house-museum, the participants gave new life to pieces
    that dated from as early as the fourth century. They also showcased
    their own work. Before an audience of tourists and fellow musicians,
    the entire MAP ensemble, together with their instructors, performed an
    original piece composed by student Andrea Godoshian especially for the
    event. It was one of the highlights of an evening that was made
    complete when student and vocalist Eliz Gagosian joined Mayilyan's a
    cappella trio.

    The final gala concert marked the end of a summer of learning and
    creating. But for the students, it was only the beginning. As Shaghig
    Kazandjian shared, `Through MAP, I was able to discover Armenia and
    embrace my culture, history and identity in ways I never could have
    imagined. I learned so much about my musical heritage and I can't wait
    to continue to immerse myself in Armenian music in the months to come.
    I'm so excited to join the orchestra of the Yerevan State Opera and
    Ballet, a once in a lifetime opportunity that I know I will look back
    on years from now as one of the highlights of my career-thanks to
    AGBU.'

    - See more at: http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2013/08/29/agbus-musical-armenia-program-launches-young-artists-careers/#sthash.9orZyJvh.dpuf

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