Tekeyan Boston Celebrates Hampartsoum

During the cultural program, music was performed by two talented musicians from the Greater Boston Armenian community: award-winning pianist Marine Margarian and accomplished violinist Armenuhi Hovakimian. Maral Tanielian Der Torossian, TCA Recording Secretary, introduced the duo, who have already graced prior Tekeyan Boston events and delighted guests with their previous performance at the TCA Valentine’s Dinner Soiree in February of 2025.

During the luncheon, Margarian and Hovakimian performed a collaboration of both duets and solos, including music pieces such as, Yerevan Yerebuni, Yerevani Sirun Aghchig, and Anush Opera’s Hampartsum Yayla and Ambi Dagits. Additionally, the audience was delighted to hear classical and popular pieces from Gomidas, and other international composers, including a few pieces which were Margarian’s own compositions. The guests were so delighted and inspired by the music that, in the joyful spirit of the afternoon, they joined in by enthusiastically singing along to well-known Armenian songs.

For the second year in a row, Tekeyan Boston conducted one of the main traditions and the highlight of the day, the vijagakhagh or lottery game. On this occasion, all female attendees, married or not were welcomed and joined in for the lighthearted amusement of the game. To start, each participant dropped a personal belonging such as a ring, pendant or bracelet, which would be considered a nshan (“sign”) in a beautifully decorated vessel full of water and fresh spring flowers. The lovely 19-year-old Lianna Shememian was responsible for randomly retrieving items from the water, one at a time, and calling for the owner of each.

Once a person claimed her object, she selected a poetically written verse or saying about her fortune or luck from a basket. As individuals read aloud their vijag or pakhd in Armenian, the guests would respond with either applause or laughter. Although many of the vijag verses were pleasant and inspiring, others were quite amusing, since obviously, most of the written verses did not realistically reflect the “individual’s destiny.”

At the closing of the cultural program, TCA Boston Chapter Vice Chair Sargis Gavlakian, a poet who has published several volumes of his Armenian-language works and has been involved in TCA for many decades, took the stage. He recited two of his soon-to-be published poems with much fervor. The first one, titled “Hye Robo (t),” was written on June 19, 2005 and the second, “Mi Pshour Arev,” was written in October 2015. The profoundly existential and metaphoric poem about being an “Armenian Robot Man” expressed how to break free from being a modern-day robot-like man and return to being a living, breathing, feeling man – a true dignified Armenian man. He dedicated his touching second poem, “Mi Pshour Arev,” to all his beloved family and friends and his co-members of the Tekeyan Boston Executive committee.

Finally, TCA Boston Chapter Assistant Treasurer Suzy Naroian announced the beautiful Armenian-themed raffle items, which were donated by chapter members. Rita Balyiozian, chapter co-chair, ran the raffle with the assistance of the youth present during the event who sold the raffle tickets and chose the lucky winners.