Since this is the year of Komitas, Aravot Daily spoke to the artistic director of the Armenian State Chamber Choir, Robert Mlkeyan, and asked him about what initiatives the group has regarding Komitas.
“We don’t have a specific year for Komitas because the Chamber Choir is always involved in the works of Komitas. We have a composer who held great value to the art of composition around the world. He was equal to great composers such as Bach and Mozart. Our Komitas stands next to them,” Mlkeyan said.
According to him, people around the world don’t know Komitas. “I don’t believe that people in other countries know about Komitas. When we go to sing someplace, people are amazed at us, and they ask us who the composer of our music is.”
Robert Mlkeyan believes that we need to show the same level of excitement for Komitas as people show for Mozart in Vienna. “Every year, tourists go to Vienna to participate in the month of Mozart. They live through Mozart in their shirts, ice creams, television shows, and taxi drivers and they show this off to the world. They aren’t trying to say that Mozart was different. They’re saying that Mozart was one of the great composers who was born in Vienna. They are proud of Mozart. But are we proud of Komitas? I doubt it. I hope that our country gets its act together. I’m not involved in politics, but when they talk about how Armenia needs to advance through technology, it makes me laugh a little because Armenia cannot become a leader among the technological giants. Armenia has only one thing to show the world- its culture. If we showcase it well, we can become like Vienna. Austria has never said that it’s a highly technologically advanced nation, but it has said that ‘we gave birth to Mozart, can you do the same?’ And I can say that we gave birth to Komitas. Showcase that, invest in that, share Armenian art across the world. We need to think about this seriously. I’m not in charge of this country; I can’t do it alone.”
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Gohar Hakobyan
Photo by komitasmuseum.am
