VAN NUYS — The Los Angeles Public Library held a program featuring poetry reading and musical performances on Thursday, May 28, organized by the REAB (Racial Equity Action Board).
Its purpose was to bring the community together across multiple cultures, celebrate music and poetry from all backgrounds and languages, and find a shared voice in music and poetry, enjoying one worldwide language of music.
Four students from Glendale High School read their poems, followed by Meri Tumanyan, the advisor to Glendale High School’s Creative Writing Club. She expressed her gratitude to Liana Vardanian and Ziba Perez for inviting them to this meaningful event. Tumanyan said, “We were honored to participate in the REAB Traveling Symphony Series, where our young poets were given a venue, an audience, and an opportunity to express their unique voices. It was an extremely empowering experience for our students.”
Tumanyan is a full-time high school English teacher and an adjunct professor of English at local community colleges. She holds a bachelor’s in English and comparative literary studies from Occidental College and a master’s in creative writing from California State University, Northridge. She is the author of five poetry collections and four children’s books. Her forthcoming poetry collection, Why I Pray in Armenian, will be released in January 2027 by Finishing Line Press.
The second part of the program included performances by violinist Ani Sinanyan and her mother, Zhanna Sinanyan, on keyboard. The repertoire had musical pieces from different cultures: Austria, Hungary, Argentina, and Armenia.
Ani Sinanyan said, “Today’s program is a journey across different countries, traditions, and musical voices. Each piece tells a story shaped by the culture it comes from. She added, “Although these composers lived in different places and times, they all used music as a way to preserve memory, identity, and human emotion.”
