Armenia Study Abroad Summer 2025

the young and the young-at-heart joined together in dancing to the American rhythms of The Baseballs, Boyz II Men, and Gloria Gaynor. Together, everyone made October 7, 2012 a day to remember! Special thanks go out to the City of Yerevan and the Ministry of Emergency Situations! - For additional information on U.S. Government exchange programs and opportunities, please visit the U.S. Embassy website at: http://armenia.usembassy.gov

The earthquake shook Armenia on Dec. 7, 1988. The epicenter was in Northern Armenia in the cities of Spitak and Leninakan, which today is referred to as Gyumri. There were approx. a 25,000 death toll. Many Armenians from around the world, including Charles Aznavour sent help to Armenia.

Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) was a renown French-Armenian singer, lyricist, and diplomat. He has recorded about 1200 songs and he wrote or co-wrote most of his songs.

Kilikia or better known as the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was home to the Armenian kings and queens in the centuries before Armenia became a Christian nation and had various kingdoms.

Komitas (1869-1935) was an Armenian priest, a musicologist, composer, choirmaster, arranger, singer and is attributed to founding the Armenian National School of Music. He traveled extensively throughout the Armenian villages to collect the songs of the people. He was an ethnographer, often hiding behind trees or in corners to not disturb the villager who was singing while at work, so he could record in his notebook the notes of the song as authentically as possible. Komitas also performed his music in various locations in Europe, including Paris and Berlin.

Unfortunately, his creative endeavors came to an abrupt halt during the Armenian Genocide, in 1915, when Komitas was collected by the Ottoman Turkish authorities, like many of his fellow artists, thinkers, and writers and sent to their deaths. Komitas was able to escape and later passed away in a French hospital where many say he was being treated for depression and a mental breakdown. Many attribute his declining health to what he saw and experienced as his people suffered in the Armenian Genocide.