Situated in the breathtakingly beautiful Province of Lori, Vanadzor, the third largest city of Armenia is surrounded with verdant mountains which give the city spectacular views. Vanadzor is also known as the City of music and art.
Catherine Yesayan, Asbarez reporter, visited Vanadzor in the frames of Vanadzor and Pasadena sister cities program and was carrying the torch for Pasadena.
To celebrate the 20 years of friendship between the two cities, Vanadzor under the direction of Sofya Kalantaryan has arranged a delegation of young musicians to perform in Pasadena this September 30th.
My first visit to Vanadzor was to meet Sofya, the liaison between the two cities who has undertaken the Herculean job of bringing the kids to Pasadena to perform. Writes Yesayan.
Her second visit to Vanadzor was to hear the dress rehearsal of the concert, at the auditorium of Vandzor’s College of Art. The hall was packed with 300 spectators who donated money to defer the kids’ travel expenses.
The musicians included the gifted protege Kanon player Narek Kazazyan, a girls chorus under the direction of Sergey Harutunyan and several accompanying musicians, including talented violinist Ellen Harutunyan along with the folk rock band Lav-Eli.
From the sweeping chords on the Kanon, to Komitas songs, to Lav-Eli contemporary originals, the eclectic blend worked magic! For the final song, the whole group performed “Garouneh Yekel” a Lav-Eli band creation. The concert was a blend of ancient and modern, capturing the musical spirit of Vanadzor. The full house audience clapped in unison and rose to their feet in appreciation.
The young talented musicians are going to perform this coming Sunday at 6p.m. at the A.G.B.U.’s Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Cultural Center Theater
in Pasadena.
