Greenville News, SC
Feb 15 2009
Singer inspired by love for the Armenia of her ancestors
By Ann Hicks ¢ ARTS WRITER ¢ February 15, 2009
Her brilliant, dark eyes are the first things you notice about Mariam
Matossian, the young singer of old, Armenian songs. They are songs of
her mother and grandmother, songs that are centuries old and tell
universally true stories, says the raven-haired Vancouver native.
Canada’s loss is Greenville’s gain. Love brought her to her adopted
town, where she lives with her husband, Haro Setian, and 14-month-old
daughter, Isabella.
On the sunny side of 30, Matossian recalls how, when she was pregnant,
toward the end of one of her world music concerts, `the baby was
kicking inside me nonstop. I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl,
but I knew they loved the music.’
Isabella may coo along as Matossian makes her Southeastern debut on
Feb. 28 at the Warehouse Theatre, accompanied by the Asheville-based
trio, Free Planet Radio.
She describes her shows ‘ she has performed at festivals and concerts
in Canada and the United States ‘ as storytelling with music. `My
grandmother’s favorites, I learned from my mother.’ The subject matter
is universal; they are songs that tell of yearning, of homesickness,
of love and loss.
Her first album, the 2004 `Far From Home,’ is dedicated to the memory
of her grandmother, Mariam Der Hovaginian Markarian, after whom she is
named.
It received frequent airplay on CBC Radio and was named among the top
25 essential albums of the year by `Echoes,’ a daily, two-hour radio
program hosted by John Diliberto and distributed in the United States
by Public Radio International. Her 2007 follow-up, `In the Light,’ has
been equally well received by the public.
Matossian, nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards, says
non-Armenians have been the first ones to truly embrace her
music. `They may not understand the words I’m singing, but they love
the music.’
For her Greenville debut, Matossian says, she’s been blessed to find
three fantastic musicians to accompany her. Since her band is located
in Vancouver, the question of accompaniment had to be solved.
Not to worry. Horizon Records’ Gene Berger came to the rescue,
suggesting she listen to Free Planet Radio’s CDs and connect with the
Asheville trio that weaves together Middle Eastern, world music, jazz,
fusion and Indian melodies. The trio members all play traditional
Armenian instruments ‘ Chris Rosser on stringed instruments, River
Guerguerian on percussion, and multi-Grammy award winning Eliot
Wadopian (of Armenian heritage), on electric and string basses. The
latter is also a member of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra’s double
bass section.
Songs with history Much like her little daughter, Matossian learned
the songs she will perform on Saturday night in early childhood as her
mother and her aunts sang while her father and uncle accompanied them
on mandolin and dumbec. Her mom and dad spoke Armenian in the home,
raising bilingual children.
The concert is dedicated to her grandmother, who died long before
Matossian was born. `I was told many stories about her. I feel a very
close connection to this woman I’ve never met. She loved to sing and
dreamed about going to Armenia someday, but never got the chance.’
Following the genocide of 1915 that killed 1.5 million Armenians, her
grandmother, aged 4, and her siblings and mother, the only survivors
of their extended family, fled to safety in Syria, the only country
willing to receive the refugees. That’s where her grandmother grew up
and eventually died. `My mom tells a story of how she had this old
transistor radio and she would take it and press it against her ear to
hear broadcasts of Armenian songs. That’s as close as she got to her
homeland.’
Matossian adds that longing for country is why she named her first
album `Far From Home.’ Even though she was born in Canada as a child
she was constantly asked, who are you and where did you come from? And
when she answered Armenia, they would say where’s that? `As a young
girl I wanted people to know who the Armenians are,’ she says with
passion.
For those still asking that question: Armenia, once a kingdom, was
established around 190 B.C. and lies in the highlands surrounding the
biblical mountain of Ararat, where, according to Judeo-Christian
history, Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great flood. Armenia is the
oldest Christian country in the world.
Skipping a generation Instead of the grandmother, it was Matossian,
the granddaughter, who made the longed-for journey to Armenia, not
once but twice. Once in 1998 and again in 2002.
Matossian, on a year’s sabbatical from her Vancouver high school
teaching job, traveled to Armenia as a volunteer to work first as a
translator at an English-language newspaper and to work later with
street children and orphans. `I loved the place the moment I got
there,’ she says. `I could hear my language all around me for the
first time ‘ on the subway, on the streets and as people called to
their children or pets.’
It was also the land where her future career as a performer was jolted
to action, Matossian says.
When she organized a party for the kids, she asked them to bring their
favorite recordings to dance to. Out of the bunch only one remembered
to do it.
Soon, all tired of playing the same album over and over. For a lark,
Matossian played her demo CD of `Far From Home’ she was to market
later in Canada.
She didn’t tell the kids who the singer was. Never mind that, in no
time they recognized her voice and some even cried hearing the old
folk songs. The power of music can be amazing, she says.
Like, helping to find your soul mate.
She met her future husband, Haro Setian, a fellow Armenian and a
native of Boston, on the Internet after he purchased her `Far From
Home’ CD online.
`Since I’m a polite Canadian,’ she says, smiling, `I’d write a
thank-you note to everyone who purchased one of my CDs.’ Setian
replied to Matossian’s note and let her know he had also recently
returned from Armenia where he’d done volunteer work. `We found we
shared the same passions and heritage,’ she says.
Setian, who attended Bob Jones University and graduated from Clemson
University, brought his Canadian bride to the sunny South. `We both
love Greenville,’ he says, `we have many good friends here.’ They
include Warehouse artistic director Paul Savas, who thought his
theater would be just the place for Matossian’s Southeast premiere.
Her next step: shows in North and South Carolina with hopes of
expanding nationwide.
YOU CAN GO
What: A Night of World Music with Armenian Singer Mariam Matossian, accompanied by Free Planet Radio
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 28
Where: Warehouse Theatre, 37 Augusta St.
Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door
Information: 235-6948
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