paul chaderjian

By Paul Chaderjian May 31, 2000 Yerevan, Armenia - Thunderous applause filled the regal Opera House in Yerevan on Independence Day as local and Diasporan Armenians celebrated the nation's rebirth through music. The homeland's most popular performer, Nune Yesayan, mesmerized her formally-dressed audience with modern renditions of ancient Armenian songs of village life, stories of patriotism, lessons of pride and tales about love. On stage with the 30-year-old Armenian diva were some of the most talented young musicians of Yerevan. Under the direction of conductor Areg Arousdanian, the 22-member orchestra brought to life some of the culture's most celebrated melodies using modern and traditional instruments including ancient Armenian string, wind and percussion instruments. The past and present merged at the beginning of the concert when six drummers in traditional costumes entered the Opera energizing the crowd and setting the beat for "Khorodig Morodig," a beat w...

Duo Will Push the Bounds of Traditional Music By Paul Chaderjian AIM, May 2000 YEREVAN - Entertainers Nune Yesayan and Djivan Gasparyan need no introduction; their first names alone warrant recognition. She sells out concerts in Armenian communities all around the world, has four best-selling CDs, and her name is part of the pop culture lexicon in the homeland and Diaspora (AIM May 1998). He is known in the international music industry as the master of the duduk, the Armenian flute, works with the likes of Peter Gabriel, Michael Brook and Brian Eno, and has contributed to several Hollywood motion pictures and performed with symphonies like the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a favorite of "World Music" and alternative radio stations around the globe, while she is a favorite of Armenians of all ages from all walks of life and celebrated by Armenian broadcast and print media.   These two performers' celebrity may be an abstract concept for many, but it can be defi...

By Paul Chaderjian Sept 11, 1999 (Yerevan) - From down under in Sydney to the German city of Frankfurt, from Glendale "Little Armenia," California, to the medieval French town of Valance, from Toronto to Paris, wherever superstar Nune Yesayan performed over the past year her awed and inspired audience of young and old would chant "Nune! Nune!" in unison. In response, the slender, 30-year-old, drop dead gorgeous, modern day minstrel would sound back with her rendition of the popular 70s song "Nune. Nune." Around the year of Nune's birth, 1969, pop artists like Adiss Harmandian in the Diaspora and other popular performers in Europe and Armenia, made the song and name "Nune" a household word. From the suburbs of Beirut, to the suburbs of Yerevan, Armenians sang the lyrics of the song about forbidden love, unfulfilled desire and the deliberate and final act of a young woman being whisked away by her true love. Nune's parents gave her the nam...

by Paul Chaderjian AIM Magazine 1998 "If you are alert to the Creative, you will meet with good fortune now.” --from “I Ching - Book of Changes” It’s a sunny spring afternoon in Los Angeles. Melrose Avenue is bustling with traffic. On the sidewalks, young people mill around posing for the invisible camera; they are the walking ads for C.K., Dockers and Levi’s. A group of conservatively dressed Gen X’ers, in white shirts and ties, slurp smoothies and eat vegetarian sandwiches at a juice bar; a roaring Harley whizzes by calling attention to itself. It’s all for show, here- all for the ego. It’s not only about being looked at and looking, but it’s also about being a somebody in a sea of bodies. Melrose has always attracted the hippest and coolest of visitors and residents; after all, millions watch the FOX drama named after this place. But unlike those who are trying to keep up with a beat set by Wall Street and Madison Avenue, a young Armenian, a Buddhist, is marching to ...

documenting the documentarian: j. michael hagopian by paul chaderjian spring 1998 The images are haunting, familiar, yet still powerful - a long line of deportees ordered to the Syrian desert by Talaat, a display of decapitated heads of men who once talked, smiled, of intellectuals and artists whose lives were cut short by the Ottoman noose. The narration behind the pictures is disturbing, meticulously scripted by a survivor of the catastrophe. Together, the story they tell is of man’s inhumanity to man, a story of strength, survival and character - the story of the Armenians. The prolific filmmaker bringing history alive through his words and pictures is 84-year-old J. Michael Hagopian. The Southern California resident was hidden in a well by his parents when their lives were in danger in 1915; his childhood dreams were to emulate Katch Vartan and Zoravar Antranig, to conquer the homeland and kick out the Turks. In 1998, Hagopian is celebrating his 50th anniversary as a docume...

by Paul Chaderjian AIM Magazine April, 1998 Yerevan, Armenia - Out of the darkness comes a flash of white, and from an enormous cloud of fog descends a figure dressed in a white robe of ancient royalty, a slender, long-haired modern-day minstrel taking the stage by storm. The concert hall fills with applause as Nune Yesayan begins to belt out traditional songs set to an untraditional and contemporary beat. It’s a sold-out performance at the Opera House in Yerevan; Nune has made her return after a two-year absence. The duduk and zurna provide the background. Male dancers in costume encircle the songstress while they move in unison shoulder-to-shoulder in a dance choreographed hundreds of years ago. On both sides of the stage, angelic, petite young women caress the air with the familiar feminine movements of hands and fingers. At center stage, Nune sounds the call for a return to the homeland with a passionate rendition of "Kele Lao." She sings the praises of hardworking villag...