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First orchestra of Ethiopia comprised of orphans of Armenian genocide living in Jerusalem, lead by Kevork Nalbandian; Kevork's brother Nerses Nalbandian went on to pivotal to development of modern music in Ethiopia.
"The music of Ethiopia is the result of a very specific series of events. First, there is Emperor Haile Sellassie’s visit to Jerusalem in 1923. While he was there, two significant things happened: He heard brass band music for the first time and he met the “Arba Lijoch”. The “Arba Lijoch” were a group of forty Armenian orphans (Amharic “forty children”) living at the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem, who had escaped from the Armenian genocide in Turkey. They impressed Haile Selassie so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem to adopt them and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction. They arrived in Addis Ababa on September 6, 1924, and along with their bandleader Kevork Nalbandian to become the first official orchestra of the nation. Nalbandian’s nephew, Nerses Nalbandian - who was a composer, arranger, chorus leader, and music teacher, would go on to become a core person to develop modern music in that country."
"The music of Ethiopia is the result of a very specific series of events. First, there is Emperor Haile Sellassie’s visit to Jerusalem in 1923. While he was there, two significant things happened: He heard brass band music for the first time and he met the “Arba Lijoch”. The “Arba Lijoch” were a group of forty Armenian orphans (Amharic “forty children”) living at the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem, who had escaped from the Armenian genocide in Turkey. They impressed Haile Selassie so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem to adopt them and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction. They arrived in Addis Ababa on September 6, 1924, and along with their bandleader Kevork Nalbandian to become the first official orchestra of the nation. Nalbandian’s nephew, Nerses Nalbandian - who was a composer, arranger, chorus leader, and music teacher, would go on to become a core person to develop modern music in that country."