WEEK DEDICATED TO 140TH ANNIVERSARY OF KOMITAS PASSED IN FRANCE
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2009 17:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The week in memory of the great Armenian composer
Komitas in France, finished October 18 with a big concert of Armenian
and French musicians in the Concert Hall "Gaveau" in Paris, press
office of the foreign ministry of Armenia reports.
The concert was attended by the Ministers of Culture of France
and Armenia Frederic Mitterrand and Hasmik Poghosyan, as well as
representatives of political and social circles in France, science
and culture workers.
Participants enjoyed the works of Komitas performed by the pianist
Svetlana Navasardyan, singers Barsegh Tumanyan (bass), Juliet Galstyan
(mezzo-soprano), Hasmik Torosyan (soprano), Nairi orchestra led by
Hayk Davtyan (France), the quartet "Arpeggione" (France).
The week, dedicated to 140th anniversary of Komitas, opened on October
13 with a lecture-concert in the Paris-based House of World Cultures.
The concert of the Armenian State Chamber Choir on October 15 in the
hall of the Paris Church of Saint-Louis was a great success.
Week dedicated to Komitas was held under the patronage of culture
ministries of France and Armenia. Komitas (Soghomon Gevorg
Soghomonyan), Armenian composer, folklorist, singer and choral
conductor, was born September 26, 1869 in the Ottoman Empire. In 1890
Soghomon was ordained a monk. In 1893 he graduated from the Echmiadzin
Theological Academy. In 1895, Komitas was ordained Archimandrite. In
1896-99 he studied history and music theory in Berlin. From 1899 he
lived in Echmiadzin, led music classes and chorus of the Theological
Academy. He moved in 1910 in Constantinople. From 1919 he lived in
Paris. He died in 1935 in Paris, in 1936 the remains Komitas was
transported and buried in Yerevan.