Sema Moritz is a well-known singer in Turkey. She is respected and famous in her homeland. She agreed to answer the questions of “Aravot”. Let us remind you that Sema Moritz, after reading a book about Armenian composer Karnik Garmiryan embarked on a new album.
We asked her whether the way of becoming a famous singer was easy, she answered, she answered: “There is a deep background on the pathway to become a singer. I became famous as the outcome of all my life experience as a person and as a woman. No one become famous overnight, especially in the field of art. I couldn’t have a success if I was to sing in another geography. I grew up inspired and nourished by the values and the music of the multicultural Anatolian land. It is very important to understand that I have always fed myself with the rich culture of Anatolia.”
We also asked her to give some details about her album for Karnik Garmiryan. According to her, her interest is not the Armenian music per se, but lost culture of Istanbul of the 19th century: “Karmik Garmiryan was born, has lived and dead in Pera, a neighborhood of Istanbul. So he is an Ottoman Istamboulian with an Armenian heritage. I focus on the culture of Pera, Istanbul. That is what counts for me. In mid 1800 til 1950, Pera had a multicultural culture where I realized the art of Karnik Garmiryan was lost and I wanted to showcase his art to the world.”
Being a universal language, can music solve problems of the nations? Sema answered: “I wish music was a solution to all the global problems. Where ever we look from Venezuela to Africa, I see corruption and sadness. There are a chaos and war in the world, and the music suffers as people can not express their own feelings. This is the same problem in our land as well as in other parts of the world. I wish I could only sing love songs, I wish the world could be a place where people could embrace each other instead of requiems.”
The singer also added that she does not seek an idol. She recalls that she had many idols in her 20’s, but now she appreciates those who embrace the universal music. In our question, would you like to have a concert in Armenia, she answered: “I would like to give a concert in Armenia, especially with Jiwan Gasparian. I haven’t seen Armenian land and am very curious about it. I saw many documentaries about it and would like to embrace Armenian people.”
Sema Moritz added that she is happy to collaborate with all musicians of the world. She would be very happy to make a music together with Armenian musicians for the peace of the world.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
