Author: Jalatian Sonya

Glendale News Press, CA
April 4 2009

FROM THE MARGINS:
Are we doomed to repeat mistakes?

By PATRICK AZADIAN
Published: Last Updated Friday, April 3, 2009 11:05 PM PDT

A lot has been said about the false incarceration of Edmond Ovasapyan
by the Glendale Police Department. The 28-year-old spent eight months
in prison for the crime he did not commit and was later released as
the Glendale police officers found evidence of his innocence.

There seem to be two approaches on how to view this experience.

The federal court awarded the falsely incarcerated individual $1.3
million in damages, which included $150,000 in punitive damages from
the individual officers. Some believe police acted properly, a view
championed officially by the Glendale Police Department as well as
many elected officials.

The other view is advanced by some community activists and in
particular, the Armenian National Committee. It is an approach that
seeks more answers. In an appearance at the City Council meeting,
Zanku Armenian, the chair of the committee, stated that the reputation
of the Glendale Police Department could be tarnished and that
residents may also lose trust in city government.

He added, `The bottom line is that we cannot allow this issue to be
swept under the rug.’

The politicization and polarization of the issue is inevitable at this
point. This is not surprising as we are in election season, and any
criticism of the Police Department can be interpreted as being soft on
crime.

Two major concerns emerge from this experience.

The first has to do with accountability of government to the
public. If we are not ready to accept the federal court’s decision as
proof that something did go horribly wrong during the investigation
and incarceration process, then what type of checks and balances do we
have built into our city government to ensure that probability of such
experiences is minimized in the future?

If the highest-ranking officials of the city and the official party
line of law enforcement are assuring us that everything was prim and
proper, then should we expect that there is nothing that can be done
to make sure such cases are not repeated again?

In the absence of the Armenian National Committee, what other
guarantees do we have to assure the public that our city government is
well equipped to openly analyze such issues. With all due respect to
the committee and its membership, are they the only entity that is
curious about whether this case could have been handled differently?

After all, we are talking about more than the police department’s
reputation. We are also talking about someone’s life.

Which brings me to the human aspect of this issue. Few individuals who
have spoken about this case have shown remorse or empathy, as if the
falsely incarcerated person was just a number. How would the honorable
councilmen feel if their sons were falsely incarcerated and spent
eight months in prison? Would they be able to sleep at night knowing
what type of experiences awaited him in the jail cell? Or is it that
they just know nothing like this would happen to them?

Councilman Dave Weaver’s response to Armenian’s comments illustrates a
lack of respect for any other point of view than his own. In response
to Armenian, he said, `When somebody does not know the facts, he
should not open this mouth.’

I can’t put my finger on what is most bothersome about his
response. Perhaps it is his lack of respect for a fellow resident who
has the legitimate right to ask questions. Maybe it is the fact that
his response belongs in a John Wayne movie rather than in a City
Council meeting. The difference being that we don’t live in the Wild
West, and to my knowledge, no one on City Council has shown the same
commitment to the values that John Wayne’s characters used to portray
on the screen.

This is not a case about those who support the police department
most. We are all thankful to our police force for keeping our
neighborhoods safe. In life, sometimes things do go wrong. Having the
openness and humility to accept that this could happen is the first
step in minimizing the probability of such cases the future.

Can we learn anything from this experience? In Wayne’s words,
`Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.’

I am not sure what we have learned in this case. Could it be that
everyone acted properly, and therefore, this could happen again?

?PATRICK AZADIAN is a writer, Glendale resident and the director of
admissions at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. He may be reached at
[email protected].

http://www.glendal enewspress.com/articles/2009/04/04/columns/gnp-mar gins04.txt

ONE MORE PERSON NOMINATED BY ANC ELECTORAL ROLL INTRODUCES SELF-REJECTION APPLICATION TO RA CEC

Noyan Tapan
Apr 3, 2009

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, NOYAN TAPAN. One more person nominated by the
Armenian National Congress electoral roll for the May 31 Yerevan
Council of Elders elections introduced a self-rejection application to
the RA Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on April 2. As Noyan Tapan
correspondent was informed by CEC Spokesperson Tatev Ohanian, Eduard
Poghosian, a member of the Democratic Way party, the Deputy Head of
the RA Ministry of Finances department, withdrew his candidature.

Thus, 164 citizens are nominated by the ANC list at present. It
should be mentioned that two citizens nominated by the ANC list and
one citizen nominated by the RPA list had introduced self-rejection
applications earlier.

CEC will register the 6 parties and 1 electoral alliance from April
26 to May 1, 18:00. Political forces, as well as candidates included
in their electoral rolls can use the self-rejection right until May 21.

ARMENIANS TODAY ELECTRONIC NEWS PAPER COMES

Noyan Tapan
Apr 3, 2009

Yerevan, April 3, Noyan Tapan. Out As Initiative of the Ministry of
Diaspora. The board of the ministry of Diaspora met in special session
to discuss Armenia-Diaspora issues related to educational and cultural
cooperation. In particular, the issues of publishing an electronic
newspaper "Armenians Today", implementing the "Come Home" and "Day of
Praising" initiatives, as well as other programs aimed at promoting
cultural life of Armenian communities of Diaspora were discussed.

According to Deouty minister Stepan Petrosian, the "Day of
Praising" project is devoted to praising of distinguished Diasporan
Armenians. The project will contribute to mutual understanding of
Armenians from motherland and Diaspora, help to foster in junior
generation loyalty to their homeland, national pride and appraisal
of true national values, told Petrosian. This year in the fringes of
the program events dedicated to life and work of Armenia’s national
heroes, as Armenian philanthropists Alex Manoogian, great chanson
Charles Aznavour and billionaire Kirk Kirkorian will be organized.

Particularly, conferences, days of poetry, essays competitions,
concerts, open lessons in Armenia’s higher educational institutions
and other educational establishment of the city and regions. In
addition to it, video films dedicated to Armenian heroes will be shot
and showed. The ministry will organize, jointly with the Yerevan’s
municipality the openin g ceremony of the Charles Aznavour House
Museum in Yerevan. Personnel Manager of the ministry Artak Zachariah
presented an electronic publication "Armenians Today." According to
him, the main goal of the newspaper to strengthen and deepen ties
between Armenia and Diaspora by disseminating information.

Cultural, economic, educational, spiritual and other spheres of
Armenian communities of Diaspora will be broadly highlighted, he
told. According to Zakarian, latest developments and outstanding
facts related to the Armenians reported by foreign media will find
place in "Armenians Today.

Issues of supporting to "Spyurk-Kentron" foundation, singers Inga
and Anush Arshakian, representing Armenia in the "Eurovision 2009"
competition, as well as the issue of creating "The Garden of Diaspora"
were also discussed.

A DEADLY TIME BROUGHT TO LIFE
By Chris Bohjalian

Washington Post
article/2009/04/03/AR2009040301894.html
April 4 2009

ARMENIAN GOLGOTHA
By Grigoris Balakian
Translated by Peter Balakian with Aris Sevag
Knopf. 509 pp. $35

Last month, while I was visiting my father in Florida, we had
dinner one night with my aunt. We were discussing the way Jim Jones
had poisoned 900 of his followers with cyanide-laced Flavor Aid in
1978, and suddenly my aunt was explaining that another way to poison
someone is with a yogurt smoothie. "That’s how the Turks poisoned your
grandmother’s classmates in Constantinople in 1915," she said. "They
poisoned the tahn."

This story was new to me, and I am 47. But as a second-generation
Armenian American, I’ve found that it’s not uncommon for one of these
UFO horror stories to materialize out of nowhere over coffee. My
childhood was a combination of suburban cliche and Middle Eastern
exoticism. Although most of my boyhood in New York’s Westchester County
revolved around Little League baseball, "Star Trek" and coveting my
older brother’s record collection, there was also the powerfully alien
aura cast by my grandparents, Leo and Haigoohi (pronounced Hi-Gui)
Bohjalian. They emigrated to the United States from Paris in 1927,
though both had been born near Constantinople just after the turn of
the last century. I saw them weekly, either at our home (a development
Colonial) or theirs (a three-story brick house that in my memory is
a mansion, but that I imagine would strike me as rather modest if I
were to revisit it now).

My grandparents spoke a strange language, the characters that formed
the words in their books were impenetrable, and my grandfather used to
wear a suit with a vest, even on Saturday afternoons. He would play his
beloved oud for hours. Their sheer foreignness drove my father crazy,
and he worked hard to be more American than a Ford motor plant. In
hindsight, I shouldn’t be surprised that he entered one of the more
iconic American professions of the middle part of the 20th century:
advertising.

But there was also something tragic about Leo and Haigoohi. Though
no one ever told me the precise circumstances, I knew that three of
their four parents had died in the genocide of 1915, and Leo — who had
left Turkey — went back after World War I to find Haigoohi. Sometimes
I was told that she had been hidden by a Muslim family, other times
that she had found shelter in a convent.

Still, my father never spoke of what may have happened to his ancestors
in 1915, and as a boy I never asked. And so their story emerges in
unexpected, fitful thunderstorms — such as my aunt’s yogurt smoothie
story last month.

Now, in a powerful memoir being published for the first time in
English, I may finally be getting an inkling of what Leo and Haigoohi’s
parents endured in the Armenian nightmare of 1915-16. Originally
published in 1922, "Armenian Golgotha" is Father Grigoris Balakian’s
account of his deportation from Constantinople with 250 other Armenian
intellectual and political leaders on April 24, 1915 — now Armenian
Genocide Remembrance Day — and the cruelties he endured over the next
three years as he struggled to survive. Roughly 1.2 million Armenians
would either be slaughtered by Turkish killing squads or would die of
exposure or starve to death in camps in the deserts at the southeastern
edges of the Ottoman Empire. Balakian was a great-uncle of the poet and
memoirist Peter Balakian, who translated this account with Aris Sevag.

The book presents a litany of barbaric savageries: the mobile
killing squads (chetes) of pardoned Turkish criminals; the endless
caravans of starving women and children; the grisly decapitations
and dismemberments of unarmed Armenians by frenzied mobs using
"axes, hatchets, shovels, and pitchforks." Balakian shares it all
in a tone that vacillates between reportorial numbness and a grim
determination to live to tell the world what he has witnessed:
"On our second day . . . we saw, in the fields on both sides of the
road, the first decomposed human skeletons and even more skulls,
long hair still attached to them, leaving no doubt that they belonged
to females. Among our companions were young Armenian intellectuals
. . . . They often bent down to pick up the skulls and kiss them."

When Balakian asks the Turkish captain guarding them why the victims
hadn’t been buried, he’s informed that they had been tossed into
a mass grave, but the winter floods had washed away the dirt. Then
the captain adds offhandedly that these were the bones of some of
the 86,000 Armenians who had been "put on this road so that we could
cleanse them." (The word "cleanse" as a euphemism for genocide appears
often in the text, as does the word "jihad," giving the account an
eerie and disturbing contemporaneousness.)

Balakian eventually escapes from the caravan, using his fluency in
German to pass in a variety of guises, including that of a German
engineer.

In addition to being a poignant, often harrowing story about the
resiliency of the human spirit, "Armenian Golgotha" is also a window on
a moment in history that most Americans only dimly understand. Despite
the enormous amount of new scholarship into the genocide (including
work by Turkish scholars), some Americans view the killings as less
calculated than the Holocaust and wonder whether the event should even
be categorized as "genocide" — especially at the risk of antagonizing
Turkey, a NATO ally. (Exhibit A? The current debate over a possible
U.S. House resolution that actually places the words "Armenian"
and "genocide" side by side.) In some people’s eyes, particularly
those who wish to deny what really happened, the Armenian ordeal
was a series of chaotic, decentralized, non-bureaucratic massacres
— the opposite of the systematic, state-centralized, bureaucratic
slaughter of 6 million in the Holocaust. Balakian’s account, however,
is rich with evidence of the Turkish government’s complicity and its
leaders’ premeditation. Deportation, in their vernacular, was always
a subterfuge for extermination.

So I hope that "Armenian Golgotha" will be widely read, both as a
riveting tale of one man’s survival and as a historical document.

Chris Bohjalian is the author of 11 novels, including "Midwives" and
"The Double Bind."

ARMEN DJIGARKHANYAN BEST MAN IN RUSSIA

Panorama.am
15:09 01/04/2009

If you want to read about Armen Djigarkhanyan, find "Best People of
Russia – 2009" Russian encyclopedia and you’ll find Djigarkhanyan’s
name there. "Djigarkhanyan is famous not only in Russia but in
his motherland Armenia also. He is beloved by millions of fans of
cinema and theatre. He is not only an actor, he is a living legend,"
"Special Address" publication says. According to Russian media Russian
encyclopedia is being published for 10 years.

BLESSING CEREMONY OF LAND PURCHASED BY THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF LA CANADA
by Divan of the Western Diocese

y-of-land-purchased-by-the-armenian-church-of-la-c anada/
Apr 01 2009

We are pleased to inform our faithful that with the Grace of God the
Armenian Church of La Canada has successfully competed the acquisition
process of two adjacent properties at 2767 and 2773 Foothill Blvd,
La Crescenta, CA 91214, for the purpose of construction of a church
complex in the near future. There is a small structure on the property
which will be used as the temporary sanctuary of the church until the
construction of the church complex in the near future. The Armenian
Church of La Canada will cater to the spiritual needs of our beloved
faithful residing primarily in La Canada, La Crescenta, Montrose,
Tujunga and Sunland.

On Wednesday March 28, 2009, Rev. Archpriest Fr. Hovsep Hagopian,
Parish Priest, visited the site and blessed the ground of the newly
purchased property. He offered the necessary instruction for the
temporary renovations and hoped that with the Grace of God the parish
would be able to build the church complex.

His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, during a special
religious ceremony will bless the newly purchased church property
on May 8, 2009, beginning at 8:00 PM, held at the above mentioned
address in La Crescenta, California.

All faithful are invited to participate in this spiritually uplifting
event and the following an admission-free reception.

YEREVAN-ANKARA DIALOG CAN FACILITATE KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2009 18:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Conclusion of these long running talks that Minsk
group co-chairs have been trying to lead for many years on Karabakh is
another essential piece which negotiations between Turkey and Armenia
can reinforce," Ross Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan
and Turkey told APA’s US bureau.

To the question "Turkey claims to consider the interest of Azerbaijan
in the negotiations with Armenia on the border issue. Is there anything
that Turkey can offer to Azerbaijan which will cover the damage of
the border reopening?" Ross Wilson said: "I think what is critical in
that complicated part of the world that try to put together some of
the building blocks that produce peace. Peace for the relationship
between Turkey and Armenia, resolution perhaps between Azerbaijan
and Armenia on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, be able to reach to move
forward. I think what Turkey and Armenia are doing can be part of
that. I don’t think that I can advice the Azerbaijani leadership and
Azerbaijani people," he said.

The diplomat said there is no military solution in the Caucasus or
anywhere else. "Conflict is a dead end. And the solution for the
conflict is from dialog and peaceful cooperation. That’s why Turkey
is on the right path," APA cited Ross Wilson as saying.

The former ambassador said he had no information that the borders
between Armenia and Turkey will be reopened in April.

Gamk online
20 Mars 2009

Arménie/USA/Turquie/gÃ&#xA9 ;nocide arménien.

La question du génocide ne figure pas à l’ordre du jour des
discussions en cours entre l’Arménie et la Turquie en vue d’une
normalisation : le ministre arménien des affaires
étrangères a fait cette mise au point hier en réponse
à son homologue turc, qui a affirmé mardi dans la presse turque
que les événements de 1915 font partie des sujets
abordés dans le cadre du processus de rapprochement entamé
entre Erevan et Ankara. Ali Babacan ajoutait, comme il n’a déjà
fait à de multiples reprises, que dans ce contexte, les initiatives
qu’un pays tiers pourrait prendre sur cette question n’apporteront rien de
bon et ne feront que nuire à ce processus, avertissement
destiné aux Etats-Unis.

Faux a donc répondu hier Edouard Nalbandian. Je ne peux même
pas imaginer que le ministre turc des affaires étrangères
puisse faire de telle déclaration car la question du génocide
n’a pas été discutée avec la partie turque a
ajouté le chef de la diplomatie arménienne.

De fait, la Turquie se livre à une surenchère de bonne
volonté de façade à l’attention du président
américain, dans la perspective du discours du souvenir qu’il doit
prononcer le 24 avril, et qui pourrait être l’occasion pour lui de
reconnaitre officiellement le génocide en employant enfin le terme au
lieu des tragédies et autres massacres utilisés notamment par
George Bush père et fils, mais aussi avant eux par Bill Clinton.

Cependant, si l’on en croit les informations qui circulent dans la presse
turque, les jeux seraient déjà faits, et pas en faveur des
Arméniens. La semaine dernière vous vous souvenez que le
journal Sabbah annonçait que les négociations en vue de la
normalisation des relations arméno turques étaient
terminées ajoutant que l’annonce des ententes conclues entre
l’Arménie et la Turquie serait faite le mois prochain.

Toujours selon ce quotidien, les négociations ont porté sur
l’ouverture de la frontière, l’établissement des relations
commerciales directes et la création d’une commission mixte
d’historiens chargée d’étudier les événements de
1915, autant de point sur lesquels un accord sera annoncé le mois
prochain, et en particulier sur l’ouverture de la frontière, qui
pourrait donc être promise ni plus ni moins un mois d’avril.

Un mois qui n’a bien sur pas été fixé au hasard, la
Turquie espérant ainsi convaincre Barak Obama qu’il n’est pas
judicieux d’employer le mot génocide le 24 avril prochain.

Des explications qui vont être présentées au
président américain lors de sa visite à Ankara
début avril, et selon certaines sources turques il n’est pas exclu que
Serge Sarkissian soit invité à se rendre aussi en Turquie pour
un sommet tripartite avec ses homologues américain et turc.

Enfin, toujours selon ce quotidien turc Sabbah, la Turquie aurait
renoncé à l’une de ses préconditions posées
jusqu’à présent pour normaliser les relations avec
l’Arménie, celle concernant le conflit du Karabagh, et elle en aurait
averti l’Azerbaidjan, qui n’apprécie pas de se voir ainsi
lâché, malgré les assurances turques que le processus de
rapprochement entre Erevan et Ankara et le règlement du conflit sont
deux sujets distincts.

En revanche, le chef de la diplomatie turque ne devrait pas se rendre
à Erevan mi avril : c’est là que se tiendra la réunion
des ministres des affaires étrangères de la coopération
économique de la mer noire, actuellement sous la présidence de
l’Arménie, et dont fait partie la Turquie, et Ali Babacan,
invité à y participer, avait immédiatement
accepté de s’y rendre, et même un jour avant.

Mais selon le quotidien turc Zaman, il n’en serait rien, puisque le 17, jour
de cette réunion, le ministre sera au Japon pour la conférence
des amis du Pakistan. Le journal souligne que cet événement est
d’importance pour la Turquie qui entretient des relations très
amicales avec ce pays.

Certes, mais cette excuse semble un peu trop diplomatique, car il faut
rappeler que la Turquie est le pays qui abrite le siège de la
coopération économique de la mer noire, et qu’elle en est l’un
des membres de premier plan : une réunion de cette organisation est
donc sans doute plus importante sur le plan économique et
diplomatique, qu’une conférence sur le Pakistan, à condition
toutefois qu’elle n’est pas lieu à Erevan et en avril de surcroit
visiblement.

etail.php?r=0&id=8253&l=fr

Legnano , Italia
8 Marzo 2009

IL LIBRO SUL COMODINO: TORNA ANTONIA ARSLAN CON "LA STRADA PER SMIRNE"

Notizia inserita domenica 08 marzo 2009 – 09:35:09

La strada per Smirne
di Antonia Arslan
ed. Rizzoli
?â??¬ 18,50

Continua la narrazione della tragedia del popolo armeno e del suo
sterminio attraverso le memorie familiari della Arslan.

La fuga di Shushanig e dei suoi quattro figli ?Ã?¨ finita: lasciatisi
alle spalle il ricordo delle atrocit?Ã?  degli stermini e il dolore per
la perdita di tante persone care, ora vivono in Italia, dove per?Ã?²
faticano ad ambientarsi e a costruirsi un futuro.

Non tutti i sopravvissuti alla guerra per?Ã?² hanno voluto abbandonare
l’Armenia: Ismene, la lamentatrice greca che ha favorito la fuga di
Shushanig e di molti altri, decide di tornare a Smirne con l’illusione
di poter salvare altri piccoli orfani che vagabondano per le strade,
vittime della brutalit?Ã?  della guerra e della povert?Ã? .

Scoprir?Ã?  ben presto, purtroppo, che il dolore della violenza e la
devastazione del paese sono ostacoli quasi insormontabilii, e pi?Ã?¹ di
una volta Ismene ha la tentazione di arrendersi al destino di molti
suoi connazionali, ovvero svanire dal mondo e dalla memoria…

La vita per?Ã?² ha sempre il sopravvento e quando allo spirito di
sopravvivenza si unisce l’amore per il prossimo e la speranza di un
futuro migliore, ecco che l’orizzonte si popola di uomini e donne che
vogliono rialzarsi dalla polvere, riscattarsi e riprendersi quanto la
guerra ha loro tolto; la dignit?Ã? .

Un altro romanzo magistrale sulla tragedia armena, cos?Ã?¬ poco
ricordata: Antonia Arslan sa trasmettere tutta l’empatia che i ricordi
regalano alla sua prosa, e affronta temi strazianti e dolorosi
rivestendoli di poesia e amore.

197.6

VANCOUVER SYMPHONY DEBUTS MIKHAIL SIMONYAN

HULIQ
March 27 2009
SC

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra proudly presents Mikhail Simonyan –
a violinist hailed as having "a flawless, liquid line and ravishing
tone," by The Washington Post – performing Chausson’s Poeme and
Ravel’s Tzigane.

The program, Fine French Fantasies, will be conducted by Vancouver
Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and also
features Berlioz’s Le corsaire, Op. 21, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite
and Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The concerts take place on
Saturday, March 28 at 8pm and Sunday, March 29 at 2pm at the Orpheum
Theatre and will mark Mr. Simonyan’s debut with the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra. Marking another debut, this concert features Evan Mitchell’s
2008/2009 Musically Speaking concert debut. These two great young
artistic talents team up for a beautiful concert of French repertoire.

Mikhail Simonyan, who hails from Novosibirsk (the same city that Vadim
Repin and Maxim Vengerov call home), began to study the violin at
the age of five. As part of the first generation of artists to forge
careers in an era with substantially decreased government support,
he has blazed a trail for young musicians in Russia. In 1999, at 13,
Mr. Simonyan made his acclaimed New York debut at Lincoln Center
with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) and his
debut in St. Petersburg, Russia at the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre in
ARYO’s joint concert with the Mariinsky Youth Orchestra, performing
the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1.

Mr. Simonyan has earned first prize awards at the all-Russia
Competition in Saint Petersburg, the Siberian Violin Competition,
the National Prize Prizvanie in Moscow, and the Salon de Virtuosi in
New York. He is a winner of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Award, and
received the 2000 Virtuoso of the Year award in Saint Petersburg. In
2003, the National Academy of Achievement selected him for an award
in the Performing Arts. In 2005, he received the highest level
of recognition when President Putin received him at the Kremlin,
in acknowledgment of his status as one of Russia’s most promising
young musicians.

Now in his early twenties, Mr. Simonyan is recognized as one of
the great talents of his generation. Celebrated for his "breadth,
lyricism and fleet technique" by The New York Times and compared to
master violinist David Oistrakh "on a good day" by The Miami Herald,
Mr. Simonyan proves that he has the talent and dedication to be one
of the great talents of our time.

Evan Mitchell, conductor

Conductor Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most promising
young conductors. Currently the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver
Symphony, Evan is slated to play a key role in programming, artistic
development and of course performance with the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra, leading the orchestra through a wide assortment of concerts.

Equally at home with chamber music, opera and full symphonic
masterpieces, Evan has enjoyed critical acclaim with recent operatic
performances including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible,
Hindemith’s "Hin und Zuruck" and the world premiere of Glenn James’
opera "To Daniel." Evan also won positions with the National Academy
Orchestra of Canada for four consecutive years as both conductor and
percussionist and now holds the title of Associate Mentor with the
orchestra. Highlights include conducting violin soloist Elizabeth
Pitcairn, the concertmaster of the New West Symphony and owner of
the Mendelssohn Stradivarius 1720 "Red Violin."

Evan is an advocate of contemporary music. Recently the resident
conductor of NUMUS New Music Ensemble, he has premiered several new
works, toured across Canada conducting a festival of contemporary
Chinese music and recorded works for the CMC, collaborating with such
Canadian artists as the Pentaedre Wind Quintet, Penderecki String
Quartet and Dancetheatre David Earle. Evan has also conducted and
performed works during the highly acclaimed Open Ears Festival.

As a percussionist Evan has enjoyed equal success. In demand as a
recitalist and concert soloist (recent performances of the Rosauro
Marimba concerto and the Mayuzumi Xylophone concerto), Evan’s
percussive performance has been hailed as "breathtaking in (his)
sensitivity" as well as "wizardly" and "awe-inspiring." Evan has
toured Canada, the United States and abroad, including a memorable
tour as Canadian ambassador during a concert tour with virtuoso
composer/percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic, during which he performed as
concert soloist and along with the composer in a sold out performance
of Zivkovic’s celebrated "Trio per Uno" at the Stuttgart International
Theatre. Evan is a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony and has performed with Orchestra London and the Toronto
Symphony. Evan has also been a faculty member and guest lecturer
with Wilfrid Laurier University, primarily as Music Director of the
Flute Ensemble.

Awards include First Prize at the Werlde Musik Kontest in Kerkrade,
Netherlands, finalist at the upcoming TD Canada Trust Elora Festival
Competition and Winner in Marching category as part of the Kavaliers
DCI Drum Corps. Evan is also the winner of the 2006 Pioneer Leading
Edge Arts Award.

Evan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University where he completed a
Bachelor of Music degree as a percussion major; he is also a graduate
of the University of Toronto, where he studied on a full scholarship
sponsored by Elmer Iseler and Victor Feldbrill, earning a Masters
degree in conducting. His principal conducting teachers include Raffi
Armenian, Doreen Rao, Paul Pulford and Boris Brott. Additionally,
he has studied and performed in concert series with Denise Grant,
Martin Fischer-Dieskau and most notably, Helmuth Rilling, in the
inaugural Toronto Bach festival.

Mikhail Simonyan, violin

At just 22 years of age, Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as
one of the most celebrated talents of his generation. The New York
Times has praised his, "breadth, lyricism and fleet technique," and
reported that "Mr. Simonyan play[s] as if every note counted." The
Miami Herald has declared, "Mikhail Simonyan . . . played with the
poise, perfection and inner burning fire of a master like David
Oistrakh – in his prime on a good night."

Mr. Simonyan has performed with, among others, the Russian National
Orchestra, the Kirov Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra,
the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra,
the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, and the Moscow Virtuosi. He has
worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev,
Constantine Orbelian, Vladimir Spivakov, Arnold Katz, Kristjan Jarvi,
Leon Botstein, and the late Yehudi Menuhin.

Performance highlights for Mr. Simonyan include a solo appearance
with Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center’s 35th Anniversary Gala
in 2001, after which he made his official debut with Maestro Slatkin
and the National Symphony Orchestra in 2002. Later that same year,
he performed at the Davos World Economic Summit.

In 2004, Mr. Simonyan made his debut with the Kirov Orchestra
of the Mariinsky Theatre under Maestro Valery Gergiev in Eduoard
Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington,
DE, and at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Also in 2004, he made his
subscription debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing
the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Maestro Gergiev. He also soloed
with Maestro Constantine Orbelian at the Moscow State Conservatory’s
Great Hall, and in Saint Petersburg with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic.

In addition, he was selected to appear at the Horatio Alger Awards
Dinner in Washington DC. In spring of 2004, he performed the
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at SUNY Performing Arts Center and with
the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra.

In the autumn of 2004, after studying at the Curtis Institute of Music
in Philadelphia, Mr. Simonyan returned to Russia and was immediately
in demand by the leading Orchestra’s of his home country. After his
debut with the Russian National Orchestra, the Moscow Times wrote,
"… he seems destined to be ranked on the same Superstar level as
fellow Novosibirsk natives Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin." Highlights
of the 2004-2005 season included his debut in Vienna’s Musikverein as
soloist with Maestro Kristjan Jarvi and the Tonkunstler Orchestra, a
highly acclaimed solo recital debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy
Center, as well as recitals and orchestral performances in New York
and other cities across the US.

Other performance highlights of Mr. Simonyan’s past seasons include
a tour of the United States with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky
Theatre under Maestro Valery Gergiev, concerts with Maestro Kristjan
Jarvi and the Russian National Orchestra, his debut at the Prague
Spring Festival under Maestro Pletnev, and recitals in Europe, Asia
and the United States.

Highlights of Mr. Simonyan’s current concert season include debuts at
the Wigmore Hall in London and at the Berlin Philharmonie; his debut at
the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, performing the Bruch Violin
Concerto; a recital during the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Musikfestival
in Germany as part of the "Junge Elite" concert series; appearances
with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra at the
Musikverein, and the Vancouver Symphony; and recitals in the United
States and Russia. In addition, his much anticipated debut recording
of the Prokofiev Sonatas for Violin and Piano, recorded with Grammy
Award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, will be released in 2008.

Mr. Simonyan continues to work with Victor Danchenko in the United
States and now lives in Philadelphia. He performs on a Zygmuntowicz
violin. He is managed worldwide by Tanja Dorn at IMG Artists. —