The Hilliard Ensemble will perform in Armenia on Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, in honor of the 1700th anniversary of the Holy See of the Armenian Church, the Cathedral of Echmiatsin.

The ensemble (David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, Steven Harrold, Gordon Jones) is considered one of the world's finest vocal chamber groups in the fields of both ancient and modern music. Its distinctive style and highly developed musicianship engage the listener as much in medieval and renaissance repertoire as in works especially written for the group by living composers.

The concerts are expected to be the highlight of this Jubilee Year, with the Catholicos of the Armenian Church, the President, Prime Minister, local and foreign dignitaries all in attendance. On November 1, the ensemble will sing at the Small Hall of the Yerevan Philharmonic, and their performance at St. Echmiatsin Cathedral on November 2 will be broadcast live on Public TV.

The ensemble will perform Armenian spiritual music and European classical music. Vem Radio has been collaborating with the Hilliard Ensemble on Sharakans (Armenian sacred music) for the past three months. This unique spiritual music, dating from the 5th to 15th Centuries is considered one of the jewels of Armenian culture.

With this project, which also includes recording Sharakans by the Hilliard Ensemble, Vem hopes to create wider international recognition of the singular beauty and depth of Armenian spiritual music. The general sponsor of the event is the Tufenkian Company.


Painters' Elections: The 16th conference of the Painters Union of Armenia was held on October 28 and 29 during which 1100 artist members elected a new president. They voted in the current president Karen Aghamyan for a new five-year term in a ballot contested by four candidates.

A letter of greeting from President Robert Kocharyan was presented at the opening of the conference, in which he underlined the great importance of the Union of Painters.

"During its entire existence the Union has been playing an important role in the field of developing graphic arts and has been successfully accomplishing the mission of organizing and making popular the important part of cultural life of Armenia," the President said.

The Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs, Tamar Poghosyan, addressed the conference but caused dismay among some members by leaving immediately after her speech.

Artist Aghvan Hunanyan said Armenia's former general secretary Karen Demirchyan used to attend the whole conference, adding: "What can our minister, who is a specialist of mathematics, do for us and where is she now? She held a speech and ran away."


Children for Europe: A children's art exhibition titled "Landscape with Children's Eyes" was opened at the Armenian Architectural National Museum-Institute. The 134 works were created by 90 pupils from 13 painting schools of Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and other regions.

During the opening ceremony children and their teachers were greeted by the head of the Department of Regional Planning and Landscape of the Council of Europe, who said the pictures would be exhibited at the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg

October 30 After long struggle against cancer one of Armenia's eminent TV journalists, Robert Mavisakalyan passed away in Yerevan.

Among his famous exclusive TV shows were "Hingshabty" (Thursday), "15 days", "Questions" and "6-th Studio". His years-long work in Armenian National TV and "Armenia" TV channel conveyed a new standard of professionalism to the young generation of Armenian TV journalists. According to his colleagues Mavisakalyan has contributed greatly to the development of TV industry in the country and his programs were carried out with utmost professionalism.


Armenian conductor and composer proposed for Grammy Awards The CD Album of Aram Khachatryan's compositions dedicated to the great Armenian composer's centennial has been nominated for the Grammy Awards as Best Music Album, Best Orchestral Rendering, Best Sound Production. The Album was rendered by the Russian State Chamber Orchestra, the artistic director and chief conductor of which was Konstantin Orbelyan. The names of the winners will be announced in February 2004.

On Yerevan Stages …
November 7-8 A concert of Armenian pop singers Aramo and Emma Petrosyan "Me and You" will take place at Paronyan Theatre. The concert will be accompanied by the "Armenian jazz band" and its artistic conductor Armen Martirosyan.

November 9 A rally celebrating the 65 anniversary of the Armenian Honored Song and Dance Ensemble named after Tatul Altunyan. Will be held at Karen Demirchyan Concert hall.

November 9 A concert with the participation of "Mihr" Armenian- Iranian folk musical instruments ensemble directed by musician Arthur Arakelyan will be held in Paronyan Theatre.

November 15.16.17… A new performance called "The owners of our home" will be presented at Paronyan Theatre. The play is written by playwright Jirayr Ananyan, the performance is staged by Paronyan Theatre artistic director Ervand Ghazanchyan.