Area - 4,400 km2

Population - 154500

Administrative Center - Stepanakert

Distance from Yerevan - 375 km (5 hours by car)

Lakes - Sarsang reservoir

Important City - Shushi

Rivers - Araks (Arax), Tartar, Aghavno, Hakari, Vararak

Popular places and sights - Shoushi City and the Fortress, Gandzasar Monastery, Amaras, Dadivank Monastery, Jdrduz canyon (Shushi), Gtchavank, Jermajur, TigranakertRuines, Askeran Fortress, Panakh-Khan Fortress (restorated complex), Karvachar

The Republic of Mountainous Karabakh or as the Armenians call it the Republic of Artsakh, is the second Armenian Republic after the Republic of Armenia that is an autonomous country

The Republic of Mountainous Karabakh or as the Armenians call it the Republic of Artsakh, is the second Armenian Republic after the Republic of Armenia that is an autonomous country de facto. At the end of the Soviet Era in 1988 Artsakh declared itself as an independent country with a national referendum because of which the long-lasting conflict with Azerbaijan started up to 1994.

The history of Artsakh dates back to Urartian times the evidence of which is the cuneiform inscription writings found there. Armenians lived in Artsakh since Roman times. The native Albanians living in the upper Karabakh got mingled with Armenians in the early Middle Ages.

Artsakh is an open-sky treasure house of various forms of Armenian Architecture. NagornoKarabakh is home to thousands of architectural artifacts and historical monuments that include samples of civil architecture, ancient castles and fortresses, khachkars (cross-stones).

Armenian theater dates to before Roman times

and is one of the oldest Eurasian theatrical traditions...

The Armenian Theatre has its roots in the theatre of Ancient Greece, and it was a natural development of ancient religious rituals, when hired professional gusans (troubadours), sang the praises of the nobleman's ancestors in lengthy verses. Singers of lamentations or tragedians were known as voghbergus, and those participating in festive ceremonies were called katakagusan (Comedians).

The history of the Armenian Real Theater begins at about 70 BC. According to Plutarch, the first historically known theatre in Armenia was built during the reign of Tigran the Great. In Dikranagert he opened a great public theatre in 69 B.C., fourteen years before Pompey's first public theatre in Rome.

Tigran's son, Artavazd II, wrote several Greek tragedies, orations, and historical commentaries which survived until the second century A.D. Artavazd built the second permanent public theatre of Armenia in the old capital of Artashat. The tragedies of Euripides and the comedies of Menander were regularly produced there. He is considered the first Armenian playwright and director of Classical Armenian Theatre. Plutarch mentions that the Bacchae of Euripides, directed by Artavazd, was presented there in 53 B.C.

In 1855, the first western Armenian amateur theatre group was established by SrabionHek'imian, and a year later, Beshigtashlian organized a group of amateurs who performed at the Lusavochian School. Their success led to the construction of new school auditoriums and theatres in various parts of Constantinople. Turks, whose introduction to Armenian theatre was at the homes of their Armenian friends, soon saw Armenian actors on Turkish stages as well. It is believed that Armenians played a principal part in the birth of contemporary Turkish Theatre.

The Gabriel Sundukyan State Academic Theatre  founded in February 25, 1922 in Yerevan, is the oldest modern theatre in the Republic of Armenia. Well-known actors and directors such as VardanAjemian, Valentin Podpomogov, VahramPapazian, HrachiaGhaplanyan, HrachiaNersisyan, Hasmik, AvetAvetisian, ArusVoskanian, and Edgar Elbakyan were the stars of the theater's group. They performed both national and foreign plays, such as Sundukyan's Testament, Muratsan'sRouzan, Shant's Ancient Gods, Camus's Caligula, Brecht's Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Chekhov's Cherry Orchard, O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, Werfel's Forty Days of Musa Dagh, etc. People's Artist of the USSR VarduhiVarderesyan is the leading actress of Sundukyan Theatre.

Moscow Cinema is the largest cinema hall in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, located on Charles Aznavour Square at Abovyan Street. It was built on the site of St. Paul and Peter Church, which was demolished in the 1930s by the Soviet authorities. It was proposed in 2010 to demolish the cinema and rebuild the church.

The cinema has participated in the 'Golden Apricot', an international film festival held in Yerevan every year since 2004. The square in front of the cinema is named after Charles Aznavour as part of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Armenian independence in 2001.

Armenian National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiaryan in Yerevan was officially opened on 20 January 1933, with Alexander Spendiaryan'sAlmast opera performance. The opera building was designed by the Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian. It consists of two concert halls: the Aram Khatchaturian concert hall with 1,400 seats and the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Theater with 1,200 seats.The opening of the theater promoted the creation of new national operas and ballets. The first Armenian ballet was Happiness by Aram Khachaturian. On the basis of this ballet the composer soon created Gayane which has been performed all over the world.

The Yerevan State Puppet Theatre named after Hovhannes is a puppet theatre in Yerevan, Armenia. It was opened on 1 June 1935 by director Sofia Bejanyan, painter GevorgArakelyan, actors PavlosBoroyan and AraksiaArabyan. The first director of the theatre was VariaStepanyan. Later in 1938, the theatre was renamed after HovhannesTumanyan. Between 1950 and 1957 the theatre was closed. However, on 27 July 1957, the theatre was reopened.

State Russian Dramatic Theatre named after Konstantin Stanislavski, more commonly Stanislavski Russian Theatre, is a state theatre in the Armenian capital of Yerevan located on Abovyan Street in the central Kentron district of the city, next to Charles Aznavour Square. It was opened in 1937 and named after the Russian actor and theatre director Constantin Stanislavski since 1938. The theatre director is Alexander Grigoryan since 1965.

The shows of the theatre are mainly from the Russian works of art and literature with some shows of Armenian classical writers.

Hakob Paronyan State Musical Comedy Theatre, is one of the prominent theatres of the Armenian capital of Yerevan, founded in 1941.It is located on VazgenSargsyan Street in the central Kentron district of the city, near the Republic Square. It is named after the Western Armenian renowned satirist HakobParonyan. The Theatre was opened on June 22, 1942. The first artistic director was SharaTalyan. Many well-known persons worked in theatre, including ArtemiAyvazyan, VardanAjemian, Mikael Arutchian, Karp Khachvankyan, Svetlana Grigoryan, ArmenElbakyan, YervandGhazanchyan and others.

Musical Comedy Theatre participated at international theatre festivals in Armenia, Georgia, Iran, England, the United States.

Hrachya Ghaplanyan Drama Theatre is a theatre based in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. It was founded in 1967. It is located on AvetikIsahakyan 28 street of the Kentron district. It was opened with a performance of HovhannesTumanian's "Anush" opera, directed by HrachyaGhaplanyan.Since 1986, the artistic director at the theatre is ArmenKhandikyan.

Since alphabets are the primary tools of “fixing” a language, and given our present knowledge of the evolution of letters since their inception, we can only speculate about the beginnings of hieroglyphic and cuneiform scripts for keeping records of events, and later, the transition into using one symbol for each phonetic sound. We know very little about the beginnings and the evolution of Phoenician, Greek, Latin, or Aramaic characters, the prototypes of most modern scripts and languages.

By the turn of the 7th century BC, inhabitants of the Armenian plateau hadceased to use the cuneiform alphabet, which had been superseded by more flexible and functional alphabets, notably Aramaic (the official language by which Achaemenian Persia communicated with nearby peoples), which possessed its own script, as Greek had from the Hellenistic period.

In stark contrast, the creation of Armenian letters stands out as an illumination of at least one form of linguistic evolution. Not only the creation, but also the implementation of the Armenian alphabet on a relatively large scale for its time, remains a unique event in linguistic history. The creation of the alphabetical tools to “fix” Armenian is known in exceptional detail, including the circumstances of the birth of the letters and their subsequent impact on Armenian language and literature.

The Armenian alphabet was created in the 5th century CE by Saint Mesrop under influences from Greek (as reflected in the alphabetical order and the left-to-right direction of writing). The alphabet's original 36 letters were well suited for the Old Armenian language. Two additional letters, "o" and "fe", were added later during the late Middle Ages to write loan words, bringing the total number of letters to 38.

The Old Armenian language was the only written form of the language from the 5th to the 19th century, while in the intervening centuries, phonological changes have split the Armenian language into two dialects, namely Eastern and Western. However, only the Eastern dialect is taught as the written form at school nowadays as it is closer to the historical Old Armenian form, even though the Western dialect is more widely spoken.

Armenian Dance Before 1915

The Armenian dance heritage has been one of the oldest, richest, and most varied in the Near East. The ancestors of the Armenians established themselves in Hayastan (Armenia) about 650 Before Christ (B.C.) soon after the collapse of the Urartian Empire. The geographic position proved both a curse and a blessing. Located at a major crossroads between powerful empires, Armenia became a buffer state continually ravaged by invading armies, but distant enough to retain its own culture and identity.

The geographic location encouraged commerce and exposed the Armenians to many other peoples: Phrygians, Syrians, Persians, Hellenic Greeks, Romans, Laz, Jews, Byzantines, Arabs, Kurds, Seljuks Mongols, Osmanli, Georgians, Asiatic Albanians, Russians, and countless others. Armenian culture reflects many of these influences.

Although centuries of Ottoman subjugation changed or destroyed much of Armenia's "Great Tradition" (elite culture), the "little tradition" of the peasantry remained relatively unchanged for millennia. The rich dance heritage remained a living tradition into the 20th century. The Turkish massacres and deportations of 1,500,000 Armenians during world War I, and the subsequent dispersion of the survivors, irrevocably destroyed much of the dance heritage of Western Armenia, leaving scattered fragments of some dances. Many of these surviving fragments have since been lost due to modern cultural assimilation and urbanization.

The destruction of most of the material culture has made it difficult to study the dance historically. Similarities in the poses found in Armenian dance with poses found in ancient Sumerian and Urartian artifacts have been cited as evidence of a direct relationship. These similarities do suggest the continuity of certain motifs but these motifs are also shared by neighboring ethnic groups. Most of the written records that have survived are ecclesiastically oriented (that is, illuminated manuscripts), and make little mention of the dance. These writers were clerics who viewed the dance as pagan in origin and generally ignored or suppressed it. The references that do exist indicate that many Armenian dances were originally totemic, imitating animals or nature.

Dance Types

The traditions of many centuries contributed to the development of the rich diversity in Armenian dance. The dance itself is divided into two categories: dances (barer), which were executed to the accompaniment of musical instruments, and song-dances (bari-yerker), which were performed to vocal accompaniment.

Dances were usually accompanied by musical instruments. In the village, the most common instruments were davul / tahul (a large drum), and zourna (primitive oboe). Other popular village instruments used were dudeksheeve and mey (shepherd's flutes), and daf (tambourine). The sax was a stringed instrument commonly played in Western Armenia, with the tar being its Eastern Armenian counterpart. The kemenche (fiddle) was used as a folk instrument on the Black Sea, but elsewhere was used to accompany the songs and poetry of the wandering ashoog (troubadour). A village ensemble often consisted of no more than two or three instruments.

In the cities, a more elaborate tradition of musical performance existed, with groups of musicians playing in orchestras. These musicians often played tar, oud, kanoon, snatur, nagar, kemenche, daf, dumbeg, and mandolin, or (starting in the 19th century) clarinet, piano, violin, and other European instruments. The music of urban ensembles was heavily influenced by urban "oriental" (Arabic, Persian, and Turkish) music.

These urban musicians considered Armenian village music to be "peasant' and "unsophisticated," and preferred playing Ottoman urban music (that is, longa, simai) and European music. The urban dances reflected this preference (that is, chifte-telli, waltz, quadrille). It was essential for a rural or urban band to have a good singer or skilled joke-teller, who could create impromptu lyrics. Improvisation was an intrinsic part of Armenian culture.

Some of these songs were ancient but many were improvised ditties reflecting the issues of the day (that is, the local gossip), and changed frequently. The lyrics themselves were not only in Armenian but also in Kurdish, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Greek, etcetera. In many areas of Armenia, these other languages were commonly used by Armenians, often in addition to their own Armenian language. Armenians often composed songs in these other languages or adopted songs created by these neighboring ethnic groups. 

Armenian dance has a wide variety of formations. The dances are often performed in an open circle, with the little fingers interlocked. In general, the dances moved to the right (counter-clockwise), although there are a few areas that moved clockwise to the left (that is, Yerzinga). The basic structure of the dance could be either men only, women only, or mixed lines. The number of dancers also varied: group/line/circle dances, solo dances, or couple dances. In rural Western Armenia, the couple dances were commonly done by members of the same sex (that is, Women's duet from Chamokhlu, men's combat dances). A man and woman dancing together as a couple was more typical of the urban areas, or Eastern Armenia.

Armenian dance could also be broken down into two distinct styles of dance, "Western Armenian" (Anatolian), and "Eastern Armenian" (Caucasian). These two major styles are also subdivided into regional styles (that is, Van, Lori). Eastern Armenian, the style of the Transcaucasus Mountains, displays ballet-like movements and acrobatics in its oirginal folk form, particularly the men's dances. This is the style usually performed by most Armenian dance groups today, who are influenced by the repertoire of the State Dance Ensemble of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (S.S.R.).

The Role Of Dance

The modern concept of a dance/party (hantess/kef), as a distinct social function with a band playing, etcetera, is an Armenian-American innovation, and did not exist traditionally. A party was not a separate function in itself, but merely one aspect of some major event or festivity which included the entire community (that is, a wedding). There were European balls in the cities for the urban Armenian merchant classes, but these had little in common with the village festivals. A poor villager did not have a band conveniently playing when he wanted to dance, nor did he need one, for he could provide his own music by singing a dance-song. The traditional village dances varied widely and encompassed all aspects of village life. The dance was not simply and idle amusement, but and organic part of the culture. Any event, such as an engagement, would include special music, songs, and dance.

A dance often combined several functions simultaneously. The following description illustrates the multiple roles. It describes Armenian pilgrims dancing at an Ascension Day festival in the Armenian monastery on the outskirts of Treibizond. International folk dancers familiar with Pontic Greek dancing or Turkish Black Sea dancing will recognize this as the Armenian cognate form.

Continuity and Change

Armenia had a multiplicity of distinctive regional subcultures, many of which had their own characteristic dialects and customs, including dances. The extensive mountain ranges isolated villages and encouraged variety. The Armenian peasantry was noted for its improvisational skill in songs and dances, often creating new songs and dances to commemorate particular occasions and noteworthy local events (that is, Papertzi Gossip Dance). As time passed these topical songs would be forgotten, as new events inspired new songs and dances.

The same geographic isolation that encouraged diversity also maintained continuity in the music and dance tradition within each area because a creative villager would draw upon his traditional elements as his artistic source. Thus, a new village dance would closely resemble the old dances, maintaining the artistic continuity, because they both used common traditional elements of that particular community. Although the regional style would change, as do all living traditions, it would do so very slowly over many generations.

Armenian villagers did travel, particularly as pilgrims to the large religious festivals. There they would be exposed to the music, songs, and dances of other villages and regions. When they returned home, they would describe and demonstrate these for their own village, often adding a local flourish to the song or dance. Some of these might be incorporated into the local repertoire, and modified to suit local tastes.

Another major factor in the diffusion of dance was the large scale transfer of populations to other areas. Life in Armenia was precarious due to its geographic and political position. Foreign invaders forced large segments of the population to move, at several points in history. Seljuk invasions in the 11th century led to the Armenian settlements in Sepastia and Cilicia. In the 16th century Shah Abbas deported a large number of the Armenian population to Persia. Nomadic Kurds then migrated into depopulated Western Armenia, which they presently dominate.

As a result, Armenian song and dance did not exist in discrete isolated units. Instead, it resembled an Oriental tapestry, combining different elements. Although the regional style of music and dance remained intact, some of the songs and dances may have originated elsewhere in a different form, and have been assimilated locally. Many songs were widespread, with different dances accompanying them in different areas (that is, Hoy Nar, Lepo Le Le). Conversely, the dance could be widespread, and done to different songs in different areas (that is, Bar, Sword Dance).

The variety of Armenian dances as so extensive, and documentation so poor, that few individuals are familiar with even a fraction of the dances. A brief list of regional dances could include:

Sepastia–ChekeenHalay, Bijo, Jan Perdeh, Divrigtsi Bar, Govduntsi Bar, UchAyak/Sepastia Bar, Preperttsi Bar.
Erzerum–KhoshBilezig, Kher Pan, Berzanig, Shavallee, AkhaltzikhaVart, Dasnachoors, MaroYerekVodkh.
Van–Lepo Le Le, Govand, Daldalar, Papuri, Lorge, Sinjani, Sulimani, Sherokee, HaireMamougeh.
Daron–Yarkhoshda, Tooran Bar, Shoror, Gorani, Lorge, KotchariLatchi, Bingeol.
Urmia–Janiman, Sinjani, BandiShalakho, TachayalKitchari, Sheikhani, RoostamBahzee.

Architecture

In the realm of Armenian art, architecture takes pride of place. It was the first of the arts of Armenia to be seriously studied, and to this day Armenian architecture receives more scholarly attention than all of the other arts combined. The separateness of architecture from the other arts is not due just to size, though certainly the immense mass of any building compared to other works of art is so disproportionate that no real comparison is possible, nor to the labor, in the case of architecture perforce collective, required for its creation. Because buildings are natural vehicles for decoration, they differ from other art objects by often incorporating in themselves the two most important of the other arts: painting and sculpture.

In the study of architecture, however, primary attention is not given to the decoration, but to the structural forms of buildings and their evolution. Thus, monuments are analyzed by their architectural aspects -- the general design or look of the interior and exterior of buildings -- and architectonic considerations -- the methods used to construct them.  Classes of buildings are studied by their plans. Everyone is familiar with certain common types of structures; their names immediately evoke specific images: skyscraper, lighthouse, pyramid, windmill, stadium, Greek temple. Other types of buildings are less precisely visualized, because their forms are diverse: houses and churches, for instance, vary greatly in different parts of the world. They are differentiated architectonically by materials and methods of construction, architecturally by their shape.

The form of a building is expressed by its ground plan. Simply stated, a ground plan, or just plan, is the contour of the walls of any structure with all of its entrances and other openings indicated in an overhead view of the building magically sliced away at ground level. The thickness of the dark black lines, the size of the empty spaces for doors, reflect accurately and to scale the actual size of walls and openings.

The history of Armenian architecture is in reality the history of the development of a single type of building: the church. Two observations should come to mind, each raising certain questions. First, since the church is a Christian building for worship, and since Armenia was converted as a national entity in the early fourth century, does that mean that there is no architecture in Armenia before Christianity? No. We know very sophisticated building techniques were in use in Armenia and a strong architectural tradition in stone was exercised for more than a thousand years before the first church was built.

Unfortunately, only a handful of pre-Christian examples has survived and they are from three distinct epochs: Urartian, Hellenistic, and late Roman. They will be discussed briefly in chronological order. A considerable number of temples and fortified garrison cities are known belonging to the kingdom of Urartu (ninth to the sixth centuries B.C.), the most famous examples being the garrisons of Erebuni  and Karmir Blur in Armenia, Toprakkale, the royal capital near Van, and the temple of Mousasir (known from an Assyrian carving).  None of these survived above ground; they were all discovered in the past century by archaeological excavations. The kingdom or Urartu itself was forgotten for 2500 years after its destruction in the early sixth century B.C. until it was literally dug up in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Urartian architecture used carefully cut stone often of very large size for the foundations of walls and the supports of wooden columns for temples and assembly rooms. The compact efficiency of such towns as Erebuni, the innovative design of the temple of Mousasir, and the remnants of simple houses with primitive domes points to a flourishing architectural activity. Unfortunately, from the four centuries immediately following the end of the Urartian kingdom, no architectural monuments have been uncovered in Armenia. It is only in the centuries just before the Christian era that our next link in the building tradition of the land is found.

Thousands of Armenian churches were built during the long history of Christianity. They varied in size from very small to large, though there were no giant structures like St. Peters in Rome or Hagia Sophia in Constantinople or the large cathedrals of Europe. Some churches were intended to stand alone, while others were parts of monasteries.  A large number of types were developed, providing a great variety of exterior shapes and interior volumes. Some types are found in adjoining Christian areas, but in Armenia their plans were usually modified to conform to local conditions. A number of unique church forms were invented by Armenian architects in their pursuit of ever more efficiently built and aesthetically conceived houses of worship. 

Armenian Carpet

The earliest remark about carpet weaving is found in the "Anabasis" by a 5th century B.C. Greek historian Xenophon. On his way back from Western Asia to Thrace Xenophon was invited by Seuthes to a feast. He wrote, "Timasion who had cups and barbarian carpets drunk to Seuthes and presented him with a silver cup and a carpet...". The fact that the 10000 Greek army retreated through the territory of the historical Armenia and that the historian mentioned barbarian carpets and not Greek "tapis" give us some grounds to suggest that the carpet given to Seuthes should have been Armenian.

Decorative patterns and designs used in Armenian carpets were popular already in the early Christian period. They are best represented in the Armenian miniature art, as well as in the other areas of the Armenian applied arts such as architecture, sculpture, embroidery, cross-stones, wood and stone art, jewelry, national costumes and so on. Examples of such designs are the Armenian sign of eternity and the dragon sign.

Besides carpets various ancient carpet weaving tools and so called bone 'ktutich's (2-1st millennia B.C.) were found at the territory of historical Armenia. Archeological excavations discovered spindle heads (Shirakavan, Argishtikhinili), needles (Shirakavan, Noyemberyan), clay fragments with fabric patterns, a Bronze Age weaver machine and tools (Shirakavan, Lchashen, Argishtikhinili), a woolen clew (Karmir Blur). This was also cited by Assyrian sources (Ashurnasirpal of Assyria (9th century B.C.) and Sargon 2nd (8th century B.C.) mention captured fabrics and attires).Carpet loom is a device used to weave carpets, rugs, and cloth. The device to weave carpets (loom) is a big machine which is known to us from the 14th century lithographic sources. Until 70s of the 19th century a perpendicular wedge-shaped old loom was popular in Armenia.

Armenian carpets owed their high-quality also to the wool of ''Balbas'' sheep that were raised in the Armenian Highlands. Historical facts and various sources tell us about wool's unique quality and gloss. The Angora goat wool was widely popular in the Western Armenia. In the historical regions of Armenia where cotton and silk thread production was developed, both cotton and silk thread were also used in carpet weaving. In particular, cotton and silk were popular in the southern parts of Artsakh, Meghri and Nakhichevan; silk was used in Kharberd; and cotton – in the eastern regions of Vaspurakan and Ararat valley.

The red color of Armenian carpets was made from "vordan karmir" or "worm's red" dyestuff. The fact that "vordan karmir" dye was used in making of the oldest surviving carpet "Pazyryk" is a perfect example of this and has already been proven by the scientists in particular by I. Rudenko. "Pazyryk" dates back to the 5-4th centuries B.C. and can be seen nowadays at the Hermitage museum. Arab historians noted that Armenian carpets were the most valuable because they were made from high-quality wool and were dyed with durable "vordan karmir" pigment. This also explains why Armenian carpets were known in the Arab world as "kirmiz" (red).

The Armenian music has its roots in the Armenian Highlands with people mostly singing traditional folk song. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century due to the Armenian priest, composer and musicologist Komitas it was possible to collect the old and long tradition of Armenian music. The glorious height and presentation of the Armenian music to the world was by composers Aram Khachaturyan and Arno Babajanyan.

Melodic Basis

The base of the Armenian folk and church music tonal system is comprised of tetrachords that is different than the European one.  The Armenian folk music is based on an endless scale, as the first note of the tetrachord starts with the last note of the preceding tectrachord.

Folk Music

The tradition of the Armenian folk music comes from antique times. Nowadays the traditional Armenian instruments they play are qamancha (similar to violin), kanun (dulcimer), dhol (double-headed hand drum, see davul), oud (lute), duduk, zurna, blul (ney), shvi and to a lesser degree saz. Duduk is one of the most popular Armenian traditional instruments. Among well-known duduk performers are  Margar Margarian, LevonMadoyan, SaroDanielian, VatcheHovsepian, GevorgDabaghyan.

Popular traveling musicians called ashoughs played kamancha earlier in Armenian history. Among them well-know Sayat Nova or his Armenian initial name HarutyunSayatyan, was an Armenian poet, musician and ashugh, who composed in Armenian, Georgian, Azeri Turkish and Persian.

ArtoTunçboyacıyan is a well-known Turkish musician of Armenian descent, who is famous in Turkey and worldwide, and currently has his own jazz club in Yerevan, Armenia. He was the founder of the Armenian Navy Band.

Classical Music

Armenian classical composers include KemaniTatyosEkserciyan, one of the best-remembered composers of Ottoman classical music. Alexander Spendiarov (1871–1928), ArmenTigranian (1879–1950), and Haro Stepanian are best known for their Armenian operas. SargisBarkhudaryan (1887–1973) and Caro Zakarian (1895–1967) are representative composers of the pre- and early Soviet Armenian era.

The most famous, however, was Aram Khatchaturian (1903–1978), internationally well-known especially for his music for various ballets and the immortal Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane.

In classical music, many Armenian singers have gained worldwide recognition: sopranos GoharGasparyan, SonaGhazarian, ArpinePehlivanian, Lucine Amara, Cathy Berberian and, more recently, Isabel Bayrakdarian and Anna Kasyan, tenors TigranLevonyan, GeghamGrigoryan, and VahanMirakyan; basses AraBerberian, and Henrik Alaverdian, as well as the bass-baritone BarseghToumanian.

In the Diaspora, famous Armenian musicians such as pianist Şahan Arzruni and violinist Levon Chilingirian, and composers such as Alan Hovhaness have reached international fame.

Scott Giles (1965–) is an Armenian-American known for his many symphonies and concertos. Armenian-Canadian composer VahramSargsyan (1981– ) represents the younger generation of Armenian contemporary music composers who is mostly known for his choral compositions.

Religious Music

Armenian chant, composed in one of eight modes, is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. It is written in khaz, a form of indigenous musical notation. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint MesropMashtots, who re-introduced the Armenian alphabet. Some of the best performers of these chants or sharakans, are at the Holy Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, and include the late soprano LusineZakaryan.

The Armenian religious music is written in khaz, that are considered Armenian notes. Many of these chants have ancient origins dating back to pre-Christian times. These chants, also called sharakans, are best performed at the Holy Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, with one of them the late LusineZakaryan.
In the end of the 19th century due to KomitasVardapetpolyphony was introduced in the Armenian religious music, as it was mainly a liturgical religious music.
The contribution of Komitas in Armenian music was immense, for which he is considered to be the founder of the Armenian modern classical music. In the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century he travelled in the Armenian Highlands and collected thousandas of folk tunes.

Jazz in Armenia

The first jazz-band of Yerevan was founded in 1936. Soviet Jazz was developed by Armenians such as ArtemiAyvazyan, who founded the Armenian State Estrada Orchestra in 1938. The conventional performers in the vocal genre have been: GeorgiMinasian, ArtashesAvetyan, and LevonSevan.