Armenia

Komitas is arguably the most Armenian composer, whose prolific activities have affected a scope well beyond music or musicology. Komitas is a symbol of a whole epoch and his tragic end fully symbolizes the ordeals, that the Armenian nation went through in the beginning of the 20th century. Historian Tigran Zakaryan describes what was going on in the World and in the region during his life.

Environment protection has become a central issue for all societies and states across the world, and Armenia is not an exception. Amulsar, Sevan, burning forests, and the global question of climate change: all these issues have been at the headlines of news for several months. Regional Post spoke with the Minister of Environment Erik Grigoryan to shed light on the approaches and views of the Ministry on these matters.

Komitas not only collected, transcribed, researched and compared more than 3000 pieces of Armenian folk music, but also did research on the music of other cultures. We talked to Tatevik Shukhkulyan, head of Research Department of Komitas Museum-Institute about the topic.

Forest economy in Armenia selflessly supported the nation during the blockade years of early 90’s. The country managed to get out of the post-soviet crisis, but the forest sector in the country almost “drained,” suffering from unsustainable utilization and illegal loggings. In the past years, it became clear that time has come to put all efforts for the conservation and improvement of the forests in Armenia. UNDP, as a critical player, introduced two prominent initiatives tackling the problems of forests and providing hands-on solutions to these issues. Regional Post talked to the team standing behind these projects.

In the beginning of the 19th century, a big part of Armenian medieval professional music was on the verge of being forgotten. As a result of closed-door policy adopted centuries ago, the system of the Armenian khaz notation became incomprehensible to church musicians. It is in this decisive moment when the great reformist Hampartsoum Limonjian started his activity as a musicologist. Baba Hampartsoum would later become the person who would save the enormous amount of Armenian musical heritage. Decades later, Komitas would continue this mission.

The biggest political news of 2020 so far: US-Iranian tensions from the point of view of Armenia and the South Caucasus region.

Sona Hovhannisyan, the founder of the Hover choir and the head of Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, talked with us about Komitas’s exceptional personality, her bond with the master and his transcending value which goes beyond time.

On 12 December The US Congress finally and somewhat unexpectedly adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Even without the resolution is not legally binding and the Trump administration distanced from it, yet it can be quite consequential. A leading expert in the Armenian Genocide, Prof. Taner Akçam states that the resolution’s legal ramifications could be quite unpleasant for the Turkish government and that seems something they cannot miss.