On July 23, the participants of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program had a meeting with People’s Artist of the Republic of Armenia, Honorary Citizen of Yerevan and artistic director of Garun Children’s Dance Ensemble Suren Gyanjumyan and Merited Cultural Figure of the Republic of Armenia and composer Edgar Gyanjumyan.

Suren Gyanjumyan told the participants about Garun Children’s Dance Ensemble and talked about the Ensemble’s successes and its concert tours in 40 countries around the world.

Suren Gyanjumyan expressed gratitude to the participants visiting Armenia for preserving Armenian national values in foreign countries and assuming the difficult task of transmitting those values to the generations. “Armenians of the Diaspora can preserve their national identity by knowing Armenian dances. Every Armenian dance serves as a unique way of preserving our national traditions. By teaching Armenian children national dances, you convey “Armenianness” to them,” Gyanjumyan said. Suren Gyanjumyan also mentioned that he sees the continuation of his type in his grandson, Edgar Gyanjumyan and takes pride in the fact that his grandson has granted such musical compositions to the Armenian people.

Afterwards, composer Edgar Gyanjumyan performed his songs for the participants of the summer school program.

The participants started singing along right when they heard the first notes of Edgar Gyanjumyan’s song “My Yerevan” (Im Yerevan) and conveyed their love and warmth to the composer with their rounds of applause during the chorus.

Edgar Gyanjumyan talked about how he had created the song “Homeland” (Hairenik) and “Trees of Longing” (Karoti Tsarer). Later, the participants watched the music videos for the songs.

The composer talked about the difficulties that he has faced in his life and urged the attendees to never fear obstacles and accept each day in life as a gift from God. “I once told my son that we were going to receive a gift tomorrow. The next day, he asked me what the gift was, and I told him the day was our gift and it is our duty to accept and defend it.”

At the end, the participants asked the artists their questions and took photos with them.