Rohnert Park
Thursday, October 17
6:30pm
GREEN MUSIC CENTER
Schroeder Concert Hall
OAKLAND
Friday, October 18
8pm
ST. VARTAN
ARMENIAN CHURCH
SAN JOSE
Friday, October 19
7:30pm
HAMMER THEATRE CENTER
One of Armenia's leading folk singers, Hasmik Hartuyunyan is world-renowned for her work with Yerevan's Shoghaken Ensemble and for her mellifluous renditions of Armenian lullabies, one of the most evocative genres in Armenian music. Her passionate interpretations of melodies from villages across the Armenian plateau offer a mesmerizing glimpse into a lost world. In addition to songs sung by her ancestors from the historical Armenian province of Moush, Hasmik learned many of the songs in her repertoire from elder women who emigrated from Eastern to Western Armenia before or during the Armenian Genocide, as well as from their descendants and old folk song collections.
Kitka's collaboration with Hasmik Harutyunyan is a tribute to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Armenian priest, composer, music educator, and folk song collector Komitas Vardapet (1869-1935). Many consider Komitas the founder of modern Armenian classical music, and countless Armenian folk melodies survived the Armenian Genocide thanks to his vast and painstaking ethnomusicological work. Our Gorani concert program will feature a selection of lullabies, emigrant, love, and work songs collected and arranged by Komitas.