Music Without Borders
Researchers and musicians from around the world will take part in online workshops on January 27 and 28, exploring the complex socio-cultural contexts of music made by Armenians and their neighbours. Organised by the Armenian Institute and the Department of Music of King's College London, presenters look at how music is interwoven with daily life, how it adjusts and evolves over time and transitions, provides solace in need, creates bridges and barriers, separates and connects us.
Thursday evening’s session, hosted by ethnomusicologist Martin Stokes, includes keynote presentations by ethnomusicologist Melissa Bilal and collector/researcher Harout Arakelian. Bilal's talk, "Tracing Koharik Gazarossian's Life Story and Music: Reflecting on Borders" and Arakelian's "Historic Sound Recordings of the Armenian Diaspora in Early 20th Century U.S." focus on similar time periods but in very different environments. On Friday evening, the film Garod will be discussed by musician Ara Dinkjian with its directors, Burcu Yıldız and Onur Günay, the session chaired by anthropologist Susan Pattie. Following Ara and his father, renowned singer Onnik Dinkjian, as they walk the streets of their ancestral city, Diyarbakir/Tigranakert, the film brings the roots of their music to life. It also has an unexpected after-life in the songs of their Kurdish neighbours.
Sessions on Friday afternoon will provide a range of perspectives and ideas, including ways in which musicians engage with ideas of memory and loss as well as creativity and transformations inspired by neighbours. Presenters include Aram Kerovpyan, Jacob Olley, Sevan Habib, Burcu Yıldız, Sylvia Alajaji, Rik Adriaans and Alyssa Mathias with topics ranging from "Musical Interactions between Armenians and Muslims in the Ottoman Empire" to 'Never Mention Peace-building': Transborder Encounters at the One Caucasus Music Festival". A definition of “Armenian music” is not an aim of the workshops. The scope is broad, aiming to explore and provide insights into cultures through soundscapes and music – but also to establish a working network of researchers and musicians who will continue meeting and exchanging ideas in the future.
Evenings and Friday afternoon sessions are open to the public on Zoom and free of charge.
Please visit our website or facebook event page to access the Zoom link.
Co-organisers: Susan Pattie and Martin Stokes
Armenian Institute, London and the Department of Music, King's College London