The premiere of the film “Singing summers,” dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Varanda Youth Choir in Shoushi, took place on September 6, 2012 at the Pan-Armenian Theater in Yerevan. The event was organized by the Hamazkayin office in Yerevan.
The Varanda Choir first came to life in 1992 after the liberation of Shoushi when a group from the ARF Nigol Aghpalian Student Association listened to the call of the fatherland, came to Shoushi, established the Aram Manoogian School and dedicated themselves to educational work. One of them was Zakar Keshishian, an Armenian from Lebanon and then student at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. In the very same year Zakar Keshishian launched the children’s choir Varanda. It has been twenty years since Zakar Keshishian has conducted the choir in Shoushi, turning the summers there into songs and making his contribution to the spiritual revival of the city.
The Central Committee of Hamazkayin had played a role in the making of the film “Singing summers” and it was natural that it also organized the premiere. However, the film was first premiered in Shoushi and only then in Yerevan.
The Pan-Armenian Theater was full with an audience among whom were musicians who had written songs for Varanda, former members of the choir, and people who praised the revival of Shoushi. Lilit Galstyan, the director of the Yerevan office of Hamazkayin, delivered the opening speech. While greeting the audience, Lilit Galstyan mentioned how Varanda was founded twenty years ago during the grave period of the Nagorno Karabagh war, right after the liberation of Shushi, and how Varanda Choir came to life thanks to the efforts of Zakar Keshishian, and that until today the choir continues to exist and perform, thus becoming an important factor in the cultural revival of Shoushi. Afterward, Lilit Galstyan talked about Hamazkayin and the function Varanda has had in bridging the fatherland with the diaspora. Among the speakers was Armenouhi Karapetyan, a friend of Varanda Choir, a musician, as well as a lecturer at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan. Zakar Keshishian, the choirmaster of Varanda also welcomed the audience.
The film screening and the discussion afterwards mainly emphasized that Shoushi and Artsakh still stand strong also due to our presence and devotion.
Office of Hamazkayin in Armenia