Month: April 2016

Tigran Hamasyan has been named winners of .

Tigran Hamasyan was named International Instrumentalist of the Year, Piano, for his Nonesuch Records debut album, Mockroot.

The ECHO Jazz awards are conferred by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie (German Recording Academy), akin to the Grammy Awards in the United States.

The organization has handed out the ECHO Music awards annually since 1992 and the ECHO Classic awards since 1994. The ECHO Jazz prizes are the latest addition, having launched in 2010, when Bill Frisell received the inaugural award for International Instrumentalist of the Year, Guitar.

The ECHO Jazz 2016 Awards ceremony will take place at Kampnagel in Hamburg on Thursday, May 26.

Emmy-nominated host Laura McKenzie’s one-hour primetime special, LAURA MCKENZIE’S TRAVELER-ARMENIA in honor of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day will air April 23 in major U.S. markets, including KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles, the reports.

In the new primetime special, Laura gives a firsthand account of her explorations through Armenia, including destinations like the capital city of Yerevan, Tsitsernakaberd: The Genocide Museum and Memorial, the ancient Temple of Garni, and the Monastery of Tatev, featuring the longest gondola ride in the world. She also discovers local markets, learns to make ethnic cuisine, and tries her hand at the ancient art of carpet weaving. While there, she gets a personal account of the dismal conditions during the war years in Yerevan by the famed international conductor, Maestro George Pehlivanian.

“Armenia was a total surprise to me. I was not expecting it to be so incredibly fascinating, not only for ancient sites and natural beauty, but for the friendliness of the people,” Laura said. “Armenians love Americans and their hospitality is genuine.”

Laura McKenzie is the number one television travel expert in the country. She has received dozens of awards including two Emmy nominations and a Gracie Award for her Syndicated television series, “Laura McKenzie’s Traveler.” She’s written and produced 42 home videos on travel and appears on national talk shows as a travel expert. She co-hosted “World’s Funniest Moments” and 10 seasons of “American Adventurer” with Erik Estrada and is the permanent co-host of the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.

She is also a contributing writer for “USA Weekend Magazine” and won the “Video of the Decade” award from Billboard Magazine for “Laura McKenzie’s Travel Tips-Hawaii,” distributed by Republic Pictures, broadcast on the Travel Channel and Discovery.

“Laura McKenzie’s Traveler,” the number one travel show on broadcast television, will air the special locally in all major markets across the US, including: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and more. Check local listings for more information!

 

 

 

The Amen Project, a unique musical dramatic show dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian and other genocides, will be presented at Arena di Verona, the largest opera hall in the world with the holding capacity of 15 000 spectators.

“Why Amen? Because it’s a word comprehensible to all religions of the world,” producer of the show, composer Araksya Mushegyan told reporters in Yerevan today. She said “it’s an epic drama that will tell about the Armenian people, its origin and faith, its values and place in the history of civilization

“The project aims to show the world that despite the losses and hardships, the Armenian nation continue living, being happy and creative as part of a family with other nations. We present ourselves to the world with our most powerful weapon – the millennia-long rich culture,” author of the script Edward Aranyan said.

“The project is a brilliant opportunity to present Armenia with its history and culture. Speaking about the Genocide, we’ll be speaking about tolerance, the lack of which leads to new genocides in the world today,” Italian producer David Zard said.

After the premiere in Verona, the show will be taken to London, Paris, New York and other places.

The Armenian weightlifting team returned from Fjord, Norway last night.

The athletes were greeted at Zvartnots airport by President of the National Olympic Committee Gagik Tsarukyan, Minister of Sport and Youth affairs Gabriel Ghazaryan, fans and relatives.

The Armenian team was the first with the overall number of medals won (8 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals). Turkey and Ukraine came in second and third respectively.

Thus, Armenia became the winner of the European team championship with a total of 449 points.

Brazil’s lower house has voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff over charges of manipulating government accounts, the BBC reports.

The “yes” camp comfortably won the required two-thirds majority, after a lengthy session in the capital.

The motion will now go to the upper house, the Senate, which is expected to suspend Ms Rousseff next month while it carries out a formal trial.

She denies tampering with the accounts to help secure her re-election in 2014.

The ruling Workers’ Party has promised to continue its fight to defend her “in the streets and in the Senate.”

On April 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan received Member of the European Parliament Jaromir Štětina (Czech Republic). Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zakaryan accompanied the guest on his visit to Artsakh.

The sides exchanged views on the large-scale military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on April 2-5 against the NKR and its consequences.

The NKR Foreign Minister noted that it was a long prepared and deliberate attempt by Azerbaijan to disrupt the peace process and solve the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict by force, which had failed. He stressed that during the aggression Azerbaijani armed forces had committed war crimes which were accompanied by mass violations of laws and customs of war as well as the international humanitarian law.

During the meeting sides also touched upon a number of issues concerning the strengthening and development of ties between Artsakh and the European Union.

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has warned that the death toll from a powerful earthquake which has killed more than 250 people is likely to rise, the BBC reports.

But he also said there was evidence that people were still alive under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Mr Correa has visited some of the people affected after cutting short a visit to Rome.

At least 272 people are confirmed dead and more than 1,500 hurt by the quake, Ecuador’s most powerful in decades.

A state of emergency has been declared and some 10,000 troops and 3,500 police have been deployed in the affected areas, with an emphasis on finding survivors.

The magnitude-7.8 quake struck on Saturday evening. Coastal areas in the north-west were closest to the epicentre.

The quake is Ecuador’s largest since 1979. More than 130 aftershocks have followed.

Photo: Reuters

 

Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel, Reuters reports.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran were blamed for the failure, which revived industry fears that major government-controlled producers will increase their battle for market share by offering ever-steeper discounts.

“OPEC’s credibility to coordinate output is now very low,” said Peter Lee of BMI Research, a unit of rating agency Fitch. “This isn’t just about oil for the Saudis. It’s as much about regional politics.”

Morgan Stanley said that the failed deal “underscores the poor state of OPEC relations,” adding that “we now see a growing risk of higher OPEC supply,” especially as Saudi Arabia threatened it could hike output following the failed deal.

Oil prices have fallen by as much as 70 percent since mid-2014 as producers have pumped 1 to 2 million barrels of crude every day in excess of demand, leaving storage tanks around the world filled to the rims with unsold fuel.

Sunday’s meeting in Qatar’s capital Doha had been expected to finalize a deal to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 in an attempt to slow that ballooning oversupply.

But the agreement fell apart after top exporter Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, which was not represented, should also sign up.

The Peace of Art, Inc. has installed a billboard dedicated to Artsakh in Massachusetts.

One of the seven digitals billboards of this year, which were dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, was replaced by a new message “Support Peaceful Solutions to the Current Conflict in Artsakh” with a web address “Help-nkr.com” directing to the official website of the government of Artsakh, where there are links to make money transfers to accounts “, explained “Peace of Art, Inc.,” president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

Note that the remaining six digital billboards dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will be up on following Massachusetts highways; Rte. 1, Lynnway; Rte. 1, Malden; Rte. 495, Haverhill:

All seven digital billboards will remain until the end of April.

 

The Armenian community of Sydney will #MARCHFORJUSTICE in Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) this Sunday, April 24th in remembrance of the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports.

Participating in the March for Justice will be clergy from all Armenian churches, Armenian political, youth, relief and cultural organisations, as well as schools, dance groups and the entire Armenian community. The March will be led by the Homenetmen Scouts Band.

Marchers will meet at the iconic Hyde Park Fountain at 2pm. They will walk through Hyde Park, then Macquarie Street, which will be partially blocked to traffic by local police. Wreaths will be laid by organisations at the NSW Parliament House Khatchkar (Cross Stone), erected in 1997 to honour the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide and victims of all genocides.

The march will continue through to the Royal Botanic Gardens, where a short program will be held with the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A statement from the organisers read: “This is an historic opportunity to express our united voice for justice as descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and remember what took place 101 years ago.”

“It is time, with Artsakh recently repelling another attack by Azerbaijan, for our community to join in numbers, show our solidarity with those in the motherland, and participate in what is a unique event that will be remembered for the ages.”

A number of Buses have been organised to transport participants to and from the City. They will depart from the Armenian Cultural Centre in Willoughby (1pm), the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood (1pm), the Ararat Scout Hall in Ryde (1pm) and the Navasart Scout Hall in Smithfield (12:30pm).

The Sydney #MARCHFORJUSTICE is being held under the auspices of the joint Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee, and is being organised by Homenetmen, the Armenian Relief Society, Hamazkaine, the Armenian Youth Federation, the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Armenia Media Inc. and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, with the participation of the entire Sydney Armenian community.