We Must Never Forget We Have Unique Culture, Says Armenian Jazz Sing

WE MUST NEVER FORGET WE HAVE UNIQUE CULTURE, SAYS ARMENIAN JAZZ SINGER

15:54 * 26.06.14

US-based popular jazz singer Tatevik Hovhannisyan, who is now
in Armenia for a concert tour, considers the Armenian culture and
language too unique to be replaced for European values.

“It is not absolutely important for us to be a European city. We must
never forget that we have a unique culture and language, so we don’t
have to be too Europeanized,” she said at a news conference in Yerevan.

The singer is going to give concerts in Armenia and the
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic. For the first time ever,
she will appear on stage in the country’s capital, Stepanakert,
Armenpress reports.

“The performance in Artsakh is the AZD Production’s initiative. I
first thought it would be hard after a six-hour trip, but I feel
enthusiastic now,” said the singer.

Hovhannisyan, who is known as the Soviet Queen of Jazz, added that she
didn’t aspire for a star’s title when leaving for the United States.

“You learn something from everyone; growth is important for me. I
departed from here as a legendary [singer]. And I started everything
from a scratch in the US; I laid the stones again. Anyone experiences
a shock when leaving a [home] country. We all have roots, so it isn’t
easy to eradicate all that,” she noted.