Classical Guitarist Iakovos Kolanian In Concert

FROM ATHENS, GREECE
Classical Guitarist IAKOVOS KOLANIAN In Concert
Folk Inspired Music from Greece, South America, and Armenia
A Pomegranate Music Event

Known as one of Greece's foremost classical guitar virtuosos, Iakovos Kolanian brings an evening of folk inspired classical guitar music to New York City, Washington, DC, and Boston respectively. Born to an Armenian father and Greek mother just outside of Athens, Kolanian's unique and acclaimed interpretations of ethnic folk music transcribed for the classical guitar have garnered universal acclaim. Most recently, legendary Greek composer and icon Mikis Theodorakis ("Zorba the Greek") commissioned Kolanian to transcribe some of his select songs ("Epitafios") for the classical guitar. Iakovos Kolanian is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking renditions of Armenian folk music and is responsible for bringing this music to the global stage. For this concert, Iakovos Kolanian will be performing works by South America composer Agustin Barrios, Mikis Theodorakis, Komitas, J.S. Bach, and Armenian folk music. These are rare concert performances by the Greek-Armenian master of the guitar.

NEW YORK, NY
Thursday October 26, 2006 at 8PM
Merkin Concert Hall
129 West 67th Street
New York, NY

TICKETS: Please contact Merkin Hall Box Office at 212-501-3330 or go to http://www.kaufman-center.org to order tickets online.
$28, $42 (Prime Seating)

WASHINGTON, DC
Friday October 27, 2006 at 8PM
Church of the Epiphany
1317 G Street
NW Washington, DC

TICKETS: Please contact Raffi Meneshian at 617-686-6556 or go to www.virtuous.com to order tickets online.
$20 General Admission, $38 Prime Seating

CAMBRIDGE, MA
Friday November 03, 2006 at 8PM
First Church in Cambridge
11 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA

TICKETS: Please contact Raffi Meneshian at 617-686-6556 or go to www.virtuous.com to order tickets online.
$20, $38 (Prime Seating)

For info on the artist, please visit www.iakovoskolanian.com
For info on Pomegranate Music, please visit www.pomegranatemusic.com

Iakovos Kolanian's new Pomegranate Music CD release, "Bohemio: Guitar Masterworks of Agustin Barrios" can be purchased via download from Apple iTunes.

Tomatoes & Books

Somehow like August’s weather, dull days those days : working is VERY boring (mostly because I’ll go on sun&sea holidays next week !), friends are not around for various reasons (I must thus be satisfied with e-mails from faraway ones), and my little extra-professional activities like volley-ball (oh how I miss jumping and shooting the ball !), are suspended until September, bah ! :op

So my top moments of the last week were caused by this little shopping of some food (mainly tomatoes so) followed by 2 books bought at Fnac. Was really happy with the prospect to cook some lunch for my parents came to visit me on August 15th - a nonworking day here - and to have found 2 interesting books just after that :o).

One of these was a new published book, by Vartan Berberian Le figuier de mon père (the fig tree of my father). It’s the story of VB, a French-Armenian born in France 1926 from survivors of Genocide. A nice simple work about strength of the will and dedicated to the author’s family, à la Mayrig (it’s the French –Armenian film maker Henri Verneuil’s autobiography) or à la Pagnol (the French version of those kind of family apology), ending with a good sum up of the genocide’s story. Was comforting to read some critical saying that after reading the book, you just end to share the same anger about Turcs !

The other book is a compilation of short texts from Albert Camus named L’été (the summer). Chosen when seen - 1st - because it’s Camus : a strong author, orinag la chute or l’envers et l’endroit ; even if he's too much intellectual for me, still impressed by his opinions and work that I understood better thanks to a high school teacher (who would also deserve an apology, but it’s not the place and I’m not Pagnol)
and also chosen 2nd – because its title : real summer is just gone from here ! In Paris area, and I think most of France, summer has passed since the end of the heat wave in August. Anyway, this book I haven’t finished yet, but already enjoyed Camus’ burning description of Algeria’s desert town, Oran ; never been there, but could feel the mood of the city thanks to his lines, and maybe because of some common eastern background. The rest of the texts seem to be more philosophical, and rather appreciable for me those days.

Found on the web : a cute story about Armenia’s map. In order to make Armenia’s geography more easy for children, children discover that it designs the profile of a tale’s hero, Anahit (see the map to the bottom of the following page http://www.netarmenie.com/historiettes/armenie_Anahit/index.php). Was really charming, in more of being an excellent teaching tool for a geographic zero like me…

Oh, some odd news on French TV press these days : 700 French tourists for Turkey been blocked on the airports for a few days now, because of booking problems between their travel agency and the airline company. Some were blocked in Turkey (Istanbul or Izmir) and couldn’t find planes for coming back France, but most surprising is the ones that were stuck in Paris Airport : after 2 days passed at the airport, they still wanted to go to their holidays in Turkey !! Eh ?!?! Ok holidays are always impatiently expected, but ... :~

On this, ciao !

Hay TINTIN !

The legendary french comic Tintin has been translated in armenian for the first time and will be published in september :o))
http://www.netarmenie.com/culture/divers/tintin/7boules2cristal/index.php

- oops little mistake, french written, but the creator of this character, Hergé, is belgian - said !

Anyway let's hope it won't be the only hay version of the adventures of the famous reporter and his funny companions
http://tintin.francetv.fr/uk/

Ciao !

Schyzophrenic moments

I visited a friend this week end, whose companion is from Lebanon, a Christian Lebanese. On the friday call he had with his parents who are still there, he learnt that the Christian district has been bombed, as well as two bridges of these places, so you can imagine the new difficulties created. His father (a surgeon who can’t work anymore), also reported worrying info of died people arrived in Hospital, but whose death causes are totally unknown : they are literally melt inside, without any traces of external burning (skin and shirt intacts !). On the Sunday’s call (they call each other every day), the parents were “laughing” telling some absurd silly story of a death they had in their neighbourhood; the crazy effects of the instinct of survival…

Now it’s only my point of view, and sorry if I dare talking of this with my limited vision, but even if I guess much more complex and obscure geopolitical strategies are concerned, I can’t stay indifferent. As far as I see, beyond the fight to destroy terrorism (which seem to have just the opposite effect), it’s clear that we’re simply attending the destruction of an entire country.
It may be stupid to notice the following minor aspect compared to the deaths and many other problems all around, but it somehow woke up brutally my unfortunately accustomed-to-those-TV-visions conscience : just think about the less “serious” event, the oil slick.
It is that in France we had been particularly sensitized to these ecological catastrophes that came more or less after accidents, and which results were a real calamity for the seacoasts life and economy. Now what are we supposed to think about oil stocks consciously bombed and causing those irreversible pollutions ? And it’s just an absurdity among others. It seriously stinks, and I feel scared of what might happen in more directly concerned people’s mind, there in Lebanon and neighbour countries. Calling miracles…



Apart from that, life goes on. The weather is much more bearable now and I had a pleasant green and cool week end with those friends and the cat - named Izmir yet very nice ;o).
Eating too much, enjoying walks and bike rides in little villages around Nantes, on the edges of the little river La Sèvres like here in Clisson.Mamma mia, I’d forgotten that climbing slopes on a bike is so torturing, the guys of the Tour de France really must be crazy !!!
This was also an occasion to see my compatriots on their “summer holiday” mode : sandals, shorts, poussettes and all children outside, releasing a totally different impression than when you meet them the rest of the year… that’s also life . It’s the Nantes railway station yesterday : the empty quay is for a local destination, the crowd behind the glasses is going toward the other quays for more faraway destinations…

And all this reminds me Trénet’s old famous song :
Douce France - (Sweet France)
Cher pays de mon enfance - (Dear country of my childhood)
Bercée de tendre insouciance… - ( deluded with tender unconcern...)

Report from Hayastan

Parev sireliner,

I have been in Armenia for just about a month now, and I don't know where to start...
Let's begin from last night. Raffi K. had organized a blogger get-together at Raffi's Kebab, and a great time was had by all. It was very nice to associate (or be challenged to associate) faces and voices to (most of) the names and stories I've known for quite a while now. A bunch of truly great and interesting people, and I hope (or know?) that this won't be the last time we all see each other. The barsgahaygagan jash was followed by a traditional consumation of opium around a table. Opium, of course, is the name of this quintuple chocolate ice cream served at Astral cafe..what did you think? Good times and good laughs. Thanks for everything Raffi!

Adgé zad, I am currently at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with some free time, as my current project is completed and I am waiting for my boss to get out of a meeting so I can have my own meeting with her. The experience so far has been great, and I am very appreciative that my boss (special assistant to the Minister) took the care to assign me tasks that are relevant to my field of study and future ambitions. There is something like 12-15 interns working here (most from the States, 2 from Montreal, and quite a bunch from Hayastan) and it is a great thing to see. The MFA is getting ready to host the Armenia-Diaspora conference in September. I urge all those who can participate to come to town. The event coincides with the 15th anniversary of Armenia's independence, and the MFA has truly great projects (one in particular) that they wish to launch, and that can change the face of rural Armenia for good.

The two remaining members of the AGBU Montreal Armenia 2006 team left Saturday morning, and I must confess that things started to get a little lonely since their departure. As I had written in my first blog here, the Armenia 2006 team was comprised of 15 youth from the AGBU Scouting Movement of Montreal. We had been planning and fundraising for this project for the past two years, and I can now proudly and confidently say that it was a great success. We worked at the S.O.S. Children's Village in Kotayk with 6 Hayastantsi volunteers from the Armenian Student Brigades (Hay Usanoghakan Jokatner), organizing games, songs and other activities for the kids, and then renovating the houses, fences, playgrounds and fields of the village. Thanks to our fundraising efforts, the support of the AGBU Scouts' Council and our many generous sponsors, we were also able to donate books, pencils, t-shirts and stickers to all the kids at the Village (about 100 of them), soccer balls and basketballs and other athletic equipment to the Village itself, as well as treadmills, stationary bikes, exercise mats and balls and two very needed air conditioners to the Yerevan Children's Rehabilitation Center (for children with motor disabilities) where our team had volunteered in 2003. It was the first time in Armenia for most of our young group (Most of us are between the ages of 16 and 19), and it was a thrill to see how they all reacted to being in Hayastan. This was definitely our greatest experience - both individually and as a team. Everyone went back to Montreal almost kicking and screaming, with a firm commitment to return as soon as possible, and fundraising efforts have already begun in Montreal, in order to satisfy other pressing needs that we saw at the S.O.S. Village and the Rehab Center. Seeing and being part of this group of youth that made these considerable achievements all on their own initiative was nothing short of an honour.
The group of Hayastantsi student volunteers was also great, and we clicked instantly. Emails and numbers have been exchanged, and everyone misses everyone already.
I also have to put a good word in for our superstars André (from Eurovision) and Christine Pepelyan, who came to the S.O.S. Village to meet and sign autographs for the kids. They were incredibly nice, down to earth and patient. They understood how much the kids loved them, and reacted accordingly. Kudos to these two real pros! They really made those kids incredibly happy. Now go buy their albums!

This log has already gone on for long enough. I will save my impressions of Armenia for next time. Let's hope the boss's meeting is over!

Tsdesootyoon Hayastanits,
Pari getsek,
Vrouyr