CREATIVE ARMENIA AND AGBU ANNOUNCE 2020 FELLOWS

SIX POWERFUL ARTISTS WILL RECEIVE FUNDING, MENTORSHIP, AND PROMOTION

Creative Armenia and Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) are delighted to announce the six recipients of the 2020 Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships, a uniquely tailored program of funding, mentorship, and promotion designed for career acceleration.
 
The selected fellows for the 2020 term are: conductor and composer Alexandr Iradyan (Germany); graphic artist and curator Nvard Yerkanian (Italy); theatre director and choreographer Tsolak Mlke-Galstyan (Armenia); composer and jazz pianist Zela Margossian (Australia); filmmaker Vahagn Khachatryan (Armenia); and composer and songwriter Armen Bazarian (Canada).

"The quality and diversity of applicants have skyrocketed this year," said Hayk Arsenyan, Director of the Performing Arts Department at AGBU. "These cutting-edge artists are the proof that Armenians have a great cultural future ahead."

Now in its second term, the Fellowships are a collaboration of Creative Armenia and AGBU, which entered into a strategic partnership in May, 2018. Creative Armenia, a global arts foundation for the Armenian people, pursues a mandate to discover, develop, produce, and promote innovative talent.

AGBU, a trusted name across the diaspora for over a century, has opened many doors for talented Armenians through such offerings as university-level performing arts scholarships, summer internships, and professional programs such as Musical Armenia and Sayat Nova International Composition Competition-all under the aegis of the AGBU Performing Arts Department, established in the United States in 2012 and in Europe in 2016.
 
As for the 2019 Fellows, they are now ambassadors and alumni of Creative Armenia and AGBU: theatre and opera director Arthur Makaryan; writer and comedian Narek Margaryan; fine arts painter Burçin Başar; musician Arik Grigoryan; and filmmaker Victoria Aleksanyan.

"We are proud of this new generation of cultural leaders," said Alec Mouhibian, Founding VP of Creative Armenia. "And there is much more where they came from."

Founded in 2017, Creative Armenia is an innovative arts foundation that develops - and realizes - the strategies of a cultural awakening. Its founding advisory board includes Serj Tankian, Eric Esrailian, Arsinée Khanjian, Eric Bogosian, Carla Garapedian, Simon Abkarian and Michael Aram. For more information, please visit www.creativearmenia.org.
  
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the world's largest non-profit organization devoted to upholding the Armenian heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs. Each year, AGBU is committed to making a difference in the lives   of 500,000 people across Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian diaspora.  Since 1906, AGBU has remained true to one overarching goal: to create a foundation for the prosperity of all Armenians. To learn more visit www.agbu.org.