Category: 2021

FRESNO—Armenian-American composer and performer Joseph Bohigian has released a new composition titled “The Water Has Found its Crack” exploring the Armenian experience of exile as expressed through music. For this project, Bohigian moved to Yerevan in October 2019, where he worked as translator and did research at the Komitas Museum-Institute and taught a Laptop Orchestra Workshop at the Yerevan Conservatory.

The title of the piece comes from a Hrant Dink article about a French-Armenian woman who died while visiting the village of her youth in Turkey. When the question of where she should be buried arose, a man from the village responded “Let her be buried here…the water has found its crack.” Through this story of the Armenian longing for reunion with their indigenous land, Bohigian questions his place in the homeland, both musically and spiritually, and the evershifting internal and external identity boundaries in diaspora.

The idea of the water finding its crack is represented in the text of the composition, which comes from fragments of Armenian folk songs gathered by the composer from the works of Komitas. Bohigian weaves these text fragments, which reference water as metaphor for displacement and exile, into a new composite form. Musically, the composer reflects on the centrality of displacement in Armenian culture in a quasi-folk song which references the Armenian migrant song genre. The fluidity of dispersion manifests in lingering quarter tone glissandi which push at the boundaries of the tetrachord structure of Armenian music. Finally, Bohigian seeks a reunion of the Armenian musical experiences of his youth in Fresno, California and those of his time in Armenia through an abstraction of Armenian sacred chant.

The recording includes performances by sopranos Catherine Sandstet, Heidi Schneider, and Alina Tamborini, percussionist Rob Cosgrove, violinist Kate Dreyfuss, violist Sophia Sun, and cellist Tsung-Yu Tsai.

Joseph Bohigian is a composer and performer whose cross-cultural experience as an Armenian-American is a defining message in his music. His work explores the _expression_ of exile, cultural reunification, and identity maintenance in diaspora. Joseph’s works have been heard at the Oregon Bach Festival, June in Buffalo, Walt Disney Concert Hall, New Music on the Point Festival, TENOR Conference (Melbourne), and Aram Khachaturian Museum Hall performed by the Mivos Quartet, Decibel New Music, Great Noise Ensemble, and Argus Quartet. He is also a founding member of Ensemble Decipher, a group dedicated to the performance of live electronic music.

Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge, will speak about his new book “The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915.” The talk will take place via zoom on Saturday, February 6, at 10 a.m. (Pacific time)/1 p.m. (Eastern time). The presentation is part of the Spring 2021 Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program and is co-sponsored by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, and the Society for Armenian Studies.

“The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915” is a comprehensive history of the people of Musa Dagh, who rose to prominence with their resistance the Genocide in 1915. The book was published as volume 11 in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno. Fresno State’s Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian is general editor of the Armenian Series.

In “The Armenians of Musa Dagh” Dr. Shemmassian has presented a thorough analysis of the social, religious, educational, political, and economic history of the six villages which constitute Musa Dagh. In his presentation Dr. Shemmassian will discuss the genesis of the idea to write the book and about his research on the topic. His work focuses on the important period of the mid-to-late nineteenth century, offering the reader a previously unavailable insight into the people whose courage and persistence ultimately led to their successful self-defense.

Dr. Vahram L. Shemmassian is Professor and Director of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Northridge. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His book, “The Musa Dagh Armenians: A Socioeconomic and Cultural History, 1919-1939,” was published in 2015 by the Haigazian University Press in Beirut. He has also published scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as book chapters on the fate of Armenian Genocide survivors in the Middle East between the two World Wars.

“The Armenians of Musa Dagh: From Obscurity to Genocide Resistance and Fame 1840-1915” is available for purchase from Abril Bookstore, NAASR Bookstore, and AMAA Bookstore.

Zoom Registration Link: https://bit.ly/armenianstudiesshemmassian

For information about upcoming Armenian Studies Program presentations, please follow us on our Facebook page, @ArmenianStudiesFresnoState or at the Program website.

The Matenadaran—the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts—will unveil an exhibit of manuscripts from Artsakh next week.

Director of the Matenadaran in Artsakh’s Gandzasar Aram Torosyan told Armenpress that manuscripts which were written and kept in Artsakh, books published in Shushi, archival documents that include writings by that catholicoses will be among the items displayed during the exhibition, which will feature 80 distinct items.

Torosyan explained that more 100 manuscripts were on display at the Artsakh branch of the Matenadaran since 2015.

“During the recent war when the whole world witnessed how Azerbaijan was targeting the cultural centers of Artsakh, such as the Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi, the Matenadaran-Gandzasar cultural center organized the evacuation of the exhibits from Artsakh,” said Torosyan.

“We transferred them to the Matenadaran in Yerevan. But I want to note that their transfer is temporary as we will definitely return them to Artsakh, and the manuscripts will again be stored in Gandzasar,” added Torosyan.

“Meanwhile, the directorate decided to display the treasures of Artsakh in the Matenadaran. The exhibition will open soon and will last until we decide to be taken back to Artsakh, most likely in the middle of the year,” explained Torosyan.

He said the return of the ancient manuscripts to Artsakh are tied to technical and security concerns, but vowed that “the Matenadaran-Gandzasar must continue its activity. The building has not been damaged, the staffers are working, and it is under the supervision of the state oversight service.”

Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia chairman Ishkhan Saghatelyan and a member of the Artsakh parliament and chair of the ARF Central Committee of Artsakh Davit Ishkhanyan on Monday met with Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan and National Security chief Vitaly Balasanyan in Stepanakert.

Babayan discussed a range of issues related to the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict settlement process, as well as recent developments in the region.

The sides emphasized the importance of exchanging views on a regular basis and continuing discussions on matters of national significance.

During a similar meeting with Balasanyan, the ARF leaders also discussed cooperation in national security matters.