Panorama.am
14:31 06/05/2009
HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN GIVES LULLABY CONCERT AT GIVING VOICE FESTIVAL

On April 19, 2009, the St. Anthony Cathedral of Wroclaw, an
acoustically perfect structure from the late Middle Ages, was the
setting for the first-ever concert of traditional Armenian
lullabies. Small statues of saints looked down from above the altar
and around the church as Harutyunyan sang selections from her
award-winning Armenian Lullabies CD and several lullabies she recently
discovered in various archival materials, including songs from Moush,
Musa Ler, and Nakhichevan. Although singing a capella, her songs were
intertwined with the echoes of Norayr Kartashyans sring (blul), shvi,
and duduk, as the lullabies of Old Armenia, included those recorded by
Komitas (Akna Oror) and Mihran Toumajan (Orim, Orim and Oror Jojk Em
Kapel), resonated in the late night concert.

The concert program took the listeners on a journey through the
provinces of Historic Armenia, to the provinces of Taron, Vaspurakan,
Kharberd, Tigranakert, Trebizond, Cilicia (Kessab and Musa Ler), and
Eastern Armenia. Hasmik also sang Nazei Oror, a lullaby about the
Armenian Genocide, from the poem The Blind Ashough by Avetis
Aharonian, minister and culture figure of the Armenian republic of
1918-1921. Near the middle of the concert, as Kartashyan played
Vardani Mor Voghbu, a folk melody about national hero Vardan
Mamikonian, on duduk, Hasmik quietly recited the Hayr Mer.

During the course of the festival, Hasmik presented a series of
workshops about the Armenian lullaby and traditional Armenian
childrens songs, including several written or arranged by Komitas. She
also taught several Armenian folk dances, including the well known
Gyovend, Kochari, Ververi, Tamzara, Papouri, Shoror, and Mayroke
dances. Later, during gatherings and parties, the workshop
participants demonstrated their new skills to festival organizers and
guests.

Also representing Armenia at the festival of theater and song was Mher
Navoyan, musicologist from the Komitas State Conservatory. Navoyan
lectured about Armenian monodic music, as well as conducting
discussions with Theater Zar members about the life and work of
Komitas. Theater Zar, along with the Grotowski Institute (Poland) and
the Center for Performing Research (Wales), organized the week-long
festival. Currently, Hasmik and her brother, Aleksan Harutyunyan, are
recording an album of traditional Armenian wedding songs for Face
Music, a record company based in Switzerland, while they continue
their activities with the Shoghaken Folk Ensemble of Yerevan, Armenia.

Source: Panorama.am

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