By Anna Gziryan
CORDOBA, Argentina (Armenpress) — The history of Armenian music, Armenian musical instruments is already taught as a separate subject in the Music Education Professional College of the Argentine city of Córdoba. This initiative was led by Argentina-based Armenian musician, duduk player Gagik Gasparyan.
“Armenian culture has been officially adopted as a separate subject in the Argentine college. I am very happy and proud that I managed to do this. This step enables foreign young people to get acquainted with the Armenian music, folk instruments. I think culture is the key to recognizing Armenia,” he said.
Gasparyan said that his proposal to teach Armenian culture as a separate subject was welcomed. And this was not a coincidence because he has carried out consistent works with the music specialists of Argentina, educational institutions for many years and presented them the Armenian music.
“When I presented my proposal to the college executives, it was accepted with a great pleasure. The first lecture took place in early April, and the audience was excited. They were interested in our history and culture. The experience shows that if we are able to introduce our culture with a right emphasis, it sounds interesting to foreigners. Armenians have lived in Argentina for 100 years. If initially we were ‘closed,’ now a different trend is noticed. We are seeking to introduce our culture to the broader circle by cooperating with the Argentine musicians. Today I have reached the point that the proposals to present the Armenian culture are already being made to me,” Gasparyan said. He informed that there is also a comprehensive cooperation with other educational facilities of Argentina. They hold concerts and lectures with the musicians invited from Armenia during the year. In 2015 the Culture ministry of Chile made a decision to dedicate the whole year to the Armenian culture. During this period 15 lectures were delivered about the Armenian music, instruments and history.
The musician said he is going to invite different Armenian musicians this year so that they will deliver lectures at the college.
