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I wanted to discuss AGBU and to see what people in this forum think of this organization. Here are some stories of what AGBU does.
AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.agbu.org
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
AGBU'S MUSICAL ARMENIA PROGRAM LAUNCHES YOUNG ARTISTS' CAREERS
MAP PARTICIPANTS PARTNER WITH WORLD-FAMOUS MUSICIANS
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,
2013. 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 Gyumri after receiving a
personal invitation from the festival's director, pianist Karine
Avdalyan.
Karine 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
world-famous 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 enthusiastic 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
Anna Mayilyan's a capella 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."
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world's largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.
For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please
visit www.agbu.org.
AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.agbu.org
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
AGBU'S MUSICAL ARMENIA PROGRAM LAUNCHES YOUNG ARTISTS' CAREERS
MAP PARTICIPANTS PARTNER WITH WORLD-FAMOUS MUSICIANS
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,
2013. 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 Gyumri after receiving a
personal invitation from the festival's director, pianist Karine
Avdalyan.
Karine 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
world-famous 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 enthusiastic 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
Anna Mayilyan's a capella 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."
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world's largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.
For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please
visit www.agbu.org.
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