Voice and Sound of Prayer 1

Voice and Sound of Prayer 1
Armenian liturgical chant
coordinated by Girolamo Garofalo

2 December

9.30
One day Seminar

18.30
Concert by the AKN Choir
conducted by Aram Kerovpyan

Free entrance

For some time now there has been growing renewed interest in the ways in which man manifests through music his relationship with faith, the religious dimension and the sphere of the sacred. This interest has emerged not only in the work of musicologists, ethnomusicologists and anthropologists but also in historical-religious studies and theology.
These are some of the reasons that have inspired the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies to launch a new initiative called Voice and Sound of Prayer, coordinated by ethnomusicologist Girolamo Garofalo from the University of Palermo. The idea is to promote an annual study day on a specifi c topic related to the relationship between “voice” and “prayer”. An integral part of the event will be a concert with world-class performers to illustrate the repertoires being discussed. Each meeting will thus probably deal with a different individual liturgical tradition, a given geographical area, or a specific European or non-European repertoire.
Given that the venue is in Venice it is easy to see why it was decided to devote the first study day to the repertoire of an Eastern Christian church, in this case Armenian liturgical chant. This is not only because for centuries Venice pursued a policy as a strategic ‘bridge’ from which Western Christianity looked to the East, but mainly because in its lagoon – on the island commonly called “L’Isola degli Armeni” – we fi nd one of most important places of the Armenian religious diaspora: the Monastery of the Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro. In terms of music, moreover, the Monastery of San Lazzaro is particularly important because since Mekhitar founded the monastery in 1717 its monks have preserved and handed down their own specific repertoire.
With the collaboration of the Venice Armenian Cultural Studies and Documentation Centre, and with contributions from several Italian and foreign scholars.
The study day will also provide the opportunity to commemorate Father Vertanes Oulouhodjian from the Monastery of the Mekhitarist Fathers of San Lazzaro, who died on 24 May 2010. He was not only a sublime singer but also an expert on the liturgical repertoire and the modal system of mediaeval Armenian music.

To end the study day there will be a concert by the AKN Choir, Paris, conducted by Aram Kerovpyan. In addition to giving performances, this choir also founded the Centre for Armenian Liturgical Chant Studies in 1998. Aram Kerovpyan is an authoritative performer and expert on Armenian liturgical chant. For years he has been devoted to
rediscovering traditional repertoires, in particular sharagan (hymns or tropes) which, to gether with melismatic and recitative psalmody, form the largest Armenian musical liturgy.

Info

Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies
tel. 041 5230555
musica.comparata@cini.it