HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN GIVES LULLABY CONCERT AT "GIVING VOICE" FESTIVAL

Noyan Tapan
July 22, 2009

The events presented here took place at the Giving Voice folk
art festival in Wroclaw, Poland, in April 2009. On April 19, 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. She also sang several lullabies recently
discovered in various archival materials, including songs from Moush,
Musa Ler, and Nakhichevan.

Although Hasmik was singing a capella, her songs were intertwined with
the echoes of Norayr Kartashyan’s sring (blul), shvi, and duduk. At the
concert lullabies of Old Armenia, included those recorded by Komitas
("Akna Oror") and Mihran Toumajan ("Orim, Orim" and "Oror Jojk Em
Kapel") were resonated.

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 (The lord’s Prayer).

During the course of the festival, Hasmik presented a series
of workshops about the Armenian lullaby and traditional Armenian
children’s 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.