Celebrating their culture on stage Concert held to commemorate Armenian Heritage Month

BY PAMELA KALIDASAN

Features Editor

The Pierce Armenian Students Association (ASA) along with the Associated Students Organization (ASO) organized a concert in the Performing Arts Building Thursday, that honored Armenian culture with music, dance, a few keynote speakers including Interim President Aracely (Ara) Aguiar and Los Angeles councilmember Bob Blumenfield.

The Holy Martyrs Ferrahian

Armenian School students and administration, Pierce students, faculty and staff, Director Talynn Kuyumdjian and the Armenian string quartet, along with members of the Heritage Dance Studio whose dancers performed at the very end, attended the event which lasted longer than previously scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m.

Opening up the event, Communications Department Chair and ASA advisor Yeprem Davoodian welcomed attendees. He also spoke of the pomegranate tree ASA planted in 2007.

“Welcome everyone, family, friends, peers, colleagues, students, community members,” Davoodian said. “I was thinking about how we should start this off, so I’m gonna tell you a story and this story sort of goes along with the aspects of things that happened recently. So in 2017, professor Avakian and several other faculty members here got together with the ASA, Armenian Students Association, to do something for the Armenian genocide commemoration and we decided to plant a pomegranate tree.”

Davoodian shared how Pierce faculty and staff looked after the tree, and when the pandemic hit he said that he couldn’t find time to look after the tree. But as soon as he got back on campus he said that he wanted to see the tree and it grew under the care of an unnamed plant facilities staff who had been taking care of that tree during the pandemic, and was there during the commemoration ceremony and helped plant it.

“The point of this is that the person is an Armenian. That person came by and saw what was happening and was asked by plant facilities to plant the tree and it’s a part of his life,” Davoodian said. “And what I’m getting at is that we’re all here, whether you are Armenian, non-Armenian, wherever you are to celebrate customs, traditions and values and so forth.”

After Davoodian thanked members who contributed to putting this event together, ASA members introduced themselves and after them Kuyumdjian and the string quartet, violinists Angela

Amirian and Anna Yegiazaryan, viola player Artashes Asatryan and Milena Mardanyan, who performed seven works of composer’s Komitas Vartabed, the founder of Armenian classical music.

They performed “Shogher Djan” (“Dear Shoger”), “Yerginkn Ampel A” (“Cloudy Sky”), “Spring” (“Garoun A”), “Noubar Noubar,” “Krounk” (“The Crane”), “The Red Shawl” (“Al

Ayloughs”) and “Echmiadzin Par” (“Echmiadzin Par”) with grace and the audience cheered as their performance was emotional and moving..

Associate professor of vocal and choral music and ASA advisor Garineh Avakian did a presentation to share information about Armenia's geography, history, culture, people, traditional fashion and musical instruments, religion, achitecture, iconographies and spoke briefly about the Armenian genocide. Garineh also talked about the symbolic meaning of the Armenian flag and its ties to Armenian people and their national pride.

“Red symbolizes the Armenian highland,” Avakian said. “The Armenian people’s continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Christian faith and Armenian’s independence. The blue represents the will of the people in Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies and the orange symbolizes the creative talents and the hardworking nature of the people of Armenia.”

Additionally, spoke about the impact of the Armenian genocide stating that 1.5 million Armenians were masaccred with Armenia now having 3 million people, but there are more Armenians outside of Armenia is more than 8 million people.

Along with her presentation, Avakian performed Komitas’s “Hayastan” (“Armenia”), on the piano with vocalist Stephanie Keledjian where they were formidable together on stage.

Aguiar addressed how she felt about the event along with Blumenfield who later on awarded certificates to Aguiar, Music Department Chair Wendy Mazon, ASO and ASA students and advisors, Kuyumdjian and the string quartet and Heritage Dance Studio.

“Good afternoon everyone, it's good to be here celebrating Armenian Heritage Month,” Aguiar said. “I’m looking forward to the food. My roommate in college was Armenian and her mom fed us everyday during the whole time we were in college and let me tell you it’s fabulous food. What a wonderful way to get introduced into a culture and it’s great to be here celebrating with you.” pkalidasan.roundupnews@gmail.com