On June 12, out of nearly 1,000 participants, the “Akunk” Folk Instruments Ensemble of Moscow’s “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School of the Armenian Diocese of Russia and Nor Nakhichevan won the Grand Prix at the 7^th “Preservers of Russian Heritage” Competition-Festival.

Prior to that, director of the canon club of “Hayordats Tun”, member of “Akunk” Ensemble Iskuhi Karapetyan had introduced the jury to the history of the Armenian canon and its stages of development at the Gnesins Russian Musical Academy. Iskuhi Karapetyan delivered a speech entitled “Armenian Canon: Past and Present”, performed one of Sayat-Nova’s songs, after which the jury and the audience not only praised Armenian music, but also suggested combining the Armenian canon and the Russian gusli at the Academy. After her speech, Iskuhi Karapetyan was also granted a diploma.

After the canon player’s speech and performance and an introduction to the courses hosted at “Hayordats Tun”, the jury comprised of musicologists and employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation said they were amazed that Armenian music was popular and developing “next to them” and that they were unaware of that.

On June 12, Iskuhi Karapetyan, her student and student of “Hayordats Tun”, 12-year old Angelica Tarverdyan, director of “Akunk” Folk Instruments Ensemble, kamancha player Mekhak Khachatryan performed at the main hall of the Gnesins Russian Musical Academy with the accompaniment of concertmaster Konstantin Sadoyev. After their performances, Angelica Tarverdyan, Iskuhi Karapetyan and Mekhak Khachatryan were declared the first class recipients and were granted diplomas. Konstantin Sadoyev received the title of “Honored Concertmaster” of the competition-festival.

As already mentioned, the “Akunk” Folk Instruments Ensemble of Moscow’s “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School of the Armenian Diocese of Russia and Nor Nakhichevan was granted the Grand Prix (diploma and cup) of the competition-festival.

The jury and the audience were so impressed with our compatriots’ performances that Iskuhi Karapetyan and Mekhak Khachatryan received an offer to perform at the gala concert. The jury and the audience not only greeted them with “bravos”, but also suggested a performance of rock n’ roll after a performance of Komitas’s song. Everyone was amazed since it was almost impossible to see the combination of such an old instrument and “new music”.

After the competition-festival, the members of the jury assured the Armenian musicians that this was the first collaboration that would surely continue. They also assured the musicians that Armenian music would be accessible to audiences in Russia.

The musicians of Moscow’s “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School of the Armenian Diocese of Russia and Nor Nakhichevan brilliantly presented Armenian music to foreigners, becoming the levers for cultural dialogue and the ones disseminating Armenian culture abroad. They received warm rounds of applause and letters of gratitude not only for their performances and the “Hayordats Tun” Armenian School, but for all Armenians around the world.

Armine Kareyan

Moscow