News

Komitas Museum-Institite has released one of this year's most anticipated volumes dedicated to Komitas's musical legacy: Komitas Vardapet: Piano Works.
The volume features a selection of Komitas's piano compositions, including Msho Shoror, Seven Dances, and Seven Songs.

For the first time, the widely used edited versions are published alongside the original archival manuscript notation of these works, presented without editorial intervention.
The edition is based on manuscripts preserved at the Charents Museum of Literature and Arts, as well as in the digital archive of the Komitas Museum-Institute.

The preface and scholarly notes are provided in both Armenian and English.
Each composition is accompanied by a QR code, allowing readers to listen to acclaimed performances by Honoured Artist of the Republic of Armenia Hayk Melikyan.

The book is published by the cooperation with KOGHB foundation.

On the eve of his performance for Armenian audiences, we were delighted to welcome Ibrahim Maalouf — the internationally acclaimed French-Lebanese jazz trumpeter and composer, and a member of the jury of the 23rd Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival — to the Komitas Museum-Institute.

For the past 11 years, the Komitas Museum-Institute has been a place where the legacy of Komitas continues to resonate, offering visitors from Armenia and around the world a unique opportunity to connect with the spirit of Armenian culture.

A donation ceremony was held at the Komitas Museum-Institute, during which musicologist Tatevik Shahkulyan presented the Museum with valuable materials from the family archive of Mihran Toumajan, a student of Komitas Vardapet, musicologist, and folklorist.

The donated collection includes historically and culturally significant items, among them the seal of the "Five Students of Komitas," concert posters dedicated to Komitas, photographs, documents, and other remarkable materials that will enrich the Museum's collections.

The event concluded with a performance by the Chartar Club Choir, whose program provided a fitting musical finale to the gathering.

At the initiative of “47 Design” and with the professional consultation of the Komitas Museum-Institute, commemorative medals featuring the portrait of Komitas Vardapet have been created in gold, silver, and bronze. The official presentation of the medals took place on June 19 at the Komitas Museum-Institute.

The initiative aims to honor and promote the legacy of Komitas Vardapet by presenting it through the art of commemorative medal design. Crafted in gold, silver, and bronze, the medals are distinguished by their artistic design and are dedicated to the memory of the great Armenian composer, ethnomusicologist, musicologist, and cultural figure.

During the presentation, guests had the opportunity to learn about the concept behind the medals, the design process, and their artistic features. The event was accompanied by performances by the Museum's Geghard Vocal Ensemble, creating an atmosphere inspired by Komitas's musical heritage.

The Komitas Museum-Institute highly values initiatives of this kind, which contribute to preserving and promoting Komitas's life and work while presenting his legacy through new and contemporary forms that bring together cultural memory, art, and design.

Canadian-Armenian artist, painter, sculptor, and participant in the Museum’s creative residency program, Lusnak, has begun her work at the Komitas Museum-Institute.

Inspired by an in-depth study of Komitas Vardapet’s life and image, the artist will create a metal sculpture of the great composer during her residency. Upon its completion, the sculpture will be donated to the Museum.

Visitors to the Komitas Museum-Institute will also have the unique opportunity to observe the creative process as the work takes shape.

The Komitas Museum-Institute has acquired a state-of-the-art scanning system for digitization, obtained from London. The new equipment will enable the Museum-Institute to digitize its valuable archival and library collections in high quality, ensuring their long-term preservation and accessibility.

The equipment was donated to the Museum-Institute by Mark Chenian, an internationally renowned financial and business consultant, in support of the preservation and digitization of Komitas's rich cultural legacy.

“I hope this project is only the beginning. In the future, we will be able to bring specialists together, create a comprehensive digital platform for Komitas's legacy, and make it accessible to the world. In this way, Armenia will once again present itself as a country with a rich cultural heritage,” said Mark Chenian.

The Komitas Museum-Institute highly appreciates this significant contribution. The new equipment marks an important step in the implementation of the Museum's digitization strategy, expanding opportunities for the preservation and wider dissemination of cultural heritage.

Komitas Riddles is an engaging and educational game designed to introduce players to the creative legacy of Komitas Vardapet and the rich tradition of Armenian folk music. Consisting of 60 illustrated cards and 30 text cards, the game offers a fun and interactive way to discover and learn numerous songs by Komitas as well as Armenian folk songs.

The game is suitable for participants of different ages and can be played individually, with family members, friends, or in teams. It helps develop musical memory, attention, and creative thinking while making the process of learning and recognizing music both enjoyable and entertaining.

The songs featured in the game can be listened to by scanning the QR codes printed on the cards, allowing players not only to guess the answers but also to become familiar with the melodies themselves.

Compiled by Sona Simonyan and Anahit Mughaghalyan.

The game is available for purchase at the bookstore of the Komitas Museum-Institute.

On May 29, Komitas scholar and Director of the Komitas Museum-Institute, Lusine Sahakyan, delivered a lecture at the conference hall of the Paris City Hall at the invitation of the Kurdish Institute Foundation.

On May 16, within the framework of the pan-European event “Museum Night,” the Komitas Museum-Institute held the opening ceremony of the “Komitas Sound Archive” exhibition hall. The hall presents Komitas’s choral, piano, and vocal works, digitized from historical gramophone records preserved in the Museum-Institute’s collection.

The “Komitas Sound Archive” project reveals the creative legacy of Komitas Vardapet, the founder of the Armenian national school of composition, transporting listeners into the musical environment of the twentieth century through historical recordings. The project offers visitors an opportunity to engage with the musical and cultural atmosphere of the period while preserving the value and distinctive sonic qualities of the original recordings.

An important part of the exhibition is a gramophone produced under the “Severny Press” brand, founded in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). It illustrates the technological capabilities and cultural environment of the era and recalls the tradition of listening to music on gramophone records.

Project supporters: the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia and The Awesome Foundation.

"Dear child, cheerful child, one day you too will grow up and become an adult... Dear child, radiant child, love nature..."

With these affectionate words by Komitas begins the eighth volume of the A Thousand and One Songs series—Children's Songs, a new bilingual publication by the Komitas Museum-Institute.

Rich in exceptionally vivid and inspiring material, the volume brings together Armenian traditional children's and play songs collected from various regions of Historic Armenia, including Van, Ani, Kars, Sasun, Mush, Agulis, Shatakh, and others.

The volume was compiled and edited by Astghik Martirosyan and Sona Simonyan, with contributions from Lilit Harutyunyan, Tsovinar Artsruni, Gayane Amiraghyan, and Marianna Tigranyan. The translation was prepared by Shaghik Shahinyan, the academic consultant was Alina Pahlevanyan, the book was designed by Samvel Melkonyan, and the illustrations were created by students of the Henrik Igityan National Centre for Aesthetics together with Astghik Martirosyan.

The publication is now available at the Komitas Museum-Institute bookshop.

On February 5, the Komitas Museum-Institute welcomed Kiyoshi Miya, a master piano technician representing the Japanese piano brand Kawai.

Armenia is home to three premium-class Shigeru Kawai grand pianos, one of which has been housed in the Museum's Concert Hall for the past nine years.

Mr. Miya carried out a thorough inspection of the instrument, performed all the necessary adjustments, and confirmed that the piano is in excellent condition and ready to deliver the highest level of performance for pianists.

This collaboration once again highlights the Komitas Museum-Institute's commitment to promoting classical music and fostering the highest standards of musical performance.