Armenia News Bulletin 04-30-08

Click here to download the PDF (201KB) of the latest AGBU Armenia News Bulletin.

Baghdad Commemorates the Armenian Genocide

The following are some photos from the AGBU Baghdad scout troupe’s participation in the April 24 commemoration in Baghdad, Iraq.

In addition to the 35 AGBU scouts, leaders and members of AGBU Baghdad also participated in the event.

The Armenian Genocide Rally in Times Square

Alexis Halejian spoke on behalf of the AGBU Young Professionals of Greater New York at the Armenian Genocide rally in Times Square on Sunday. The event was attended by hundreds of people and included a wide cross-section of the New York area’s Armenian American community.

Alexis had the following to say about the rally:

As far as you could see behind you, to the side of you and in front of you was a sea of Armenians at the crossroads of the world (and Times Square)…It was extremely inspirational to see the crowd rise to their feet in excitement and hope as each speaker delivered their message. Everyone had something different to say, but the common theme seemed to be, ‘We are proud to be Armenians and will not rest until the issues of our past are recognized and resolved in the future.’

Armenia News Bulletin 04-25-08

Click here to download the PDF (200KB) of the latest AGBU Armenia News Bulletin.

Zemiré Opera Gears Up to Wow LA

The Lark Musical Society and AGBU have joined forces to present the extraordinary Armenian composer Dikran Tchouhadjian’s “Zemiré” opera semiseria on May 30, 31 and June 1, 2008.

This will be the third of Tchouhadjian’s four operettas to have been revived by the two organizations. The full-scale Armenian production will be staged for the first time since it was written and performed in 1891.

According to the production’s website:

For too long Tchouhadjian’s creations have remained un-produced and unpublished, rendering them practically inaccessible to artists, historians, and the music-loving public. It is our intention to employ these performances as a springboard, bringing us nearer to the ultimate goal of publishing Zemire in a definitive version for the first time ever. In this manner we can assure the longevity of a cultural and musical monument, and rescue Tchouhadjian from a lamentable oblivion.

You can visit “Zemiré”’s wonderful new website here, where you can:

• check for general performance info,
• purchase tickets,
• read a synopsis of the opera’s story,
• learn about the history of the opera, and much more.

Are You Getting This Blog Via Email? Consider a Reader

Via Nonprofit Communications by Kivi Leroux Miller of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com

Several people have unsubscribed from this blog recently citing “too many updates” — all of them were receiving the feed via email. If you are getting the email version, but aren’t happy with the amount of email it’s creating in your inbox, please consider changing your subscription from email to an RSS reader.

RSS readers allow you to subscribe to many blogs at the same time and have all of the posts grouped together (”aggregated”) in one place, instead of your email box. Google Reader, Bloglines, and Netvibes are three popular RSS readers with other subscribers of this blog. Using these free services allows you to read blog posts on your own schedule, but without having to visit each and every blog separately and without creating more email to sort through.

Once you’ve got your account established, you can easily return to the blog homepage and get the feed. Just look for the little orange logo with the two curved lines. Put that link into your reader and you’re done!

If you still aren’t convinced, watch this video which is easy to understand and explains the benefits of using RSS readers.

Armenia News Bulletin 04-23-08

Click here to download the PDF (170KB) of the latest AGBU Armenia News Bulletin.

MDS Club Attends Armenian Genocide Commemoration at LA City Hall

From our Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Southern California we received the following news:

A representative group from the Student Council and the Armenian Club of the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School attended the Commemoration of the 93^rd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at Los Angeles City Hall.

Hon. Gil Garcetti, Council President, invited the school and students to attend the event. Councilmember Dennis Zine whose 3^rd District includes the AGBU School, welcomed the students personally. High-ranking clergy from the Armenian Apostolic Church led by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate and Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian and various community leaders were in attendance. Speeches were given by Honorable Garcetti and Councilmember Wendy Gruel, the Consul General of Armenia Armen Liloyan and others.

Students then had a chance to tour the historic City Hall building and the Mayor Tom Bradley Room on the 26^th floor overlooking the City.

More info at LA City Council President Eric Garcetti’s blog here.

AGBU Launches Photo Archive on Flickr

Photo caption: Courtyard of the Aleppo Ottoman barracks, converted into a reception center for Armenian Genocide survivors returning from their places of deportation. Aleppo, Syria probably late 1918.

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The photo above is one of the many rare historic photographs in the collection of the AGBU Nubarian Library in Paris, France.

Founded in 1928 by Boghos Nubar, the AGBU Nubarian Library (aka la bibliothèque Nubar de l’UGAB) is a research center with a large collection that includes:

• 293 Armenian & French manuscripts,
• 900 musical scores,
• 1,000 maps,
• 1,000 periodicals of the 19th & 20th C.,
• 10,000 photographs,
• 40,000 books on the topics of Armenian Ottoman history and the “Armenian Question,” and
• 500,000 documents.

Today, the Nubarian Library and AGBU joins other venerable institutions, including the U.S. Library of Congress and the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies, on Flickr in an effort to share our extensive collection of photographs with the public.

Included among the treasures is the never before seen AGBU YPGNY Ellen Gerard Collection (pictured below) which was purchased by the AGBU Young Professional of Greater New York in 2000 and has been under lock and key until today.

Over time more and more images will be added to this accessible archive and we hope that everyone will feel welcome to tag, blog and comment on these priceless windows into history.

AGBU’s FLICKR PAGE – Click here to subscribe to our Flickr feed.

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Photo caption: A page from the Gerard Album depicting the nurse (right) whose amassed the collection and a blind boy (left) who, according to Gerard’s politically-incorrect caption, “regained enough sight to become useful.” See the whole album as a Flickr slideshow here.

Paris Youth Kick-off April 23 Commemoration Event

On April 5, 2008, the AGBU Youth of Paris with other five Armenians associations organized a party attended by 200 young people at the Alex Manoogian Cultural Center.

The event was in preparation for the pan-Armenian gathering on 23 April when French Armenian youth come together in front of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral to dance, sing and show that Armenians have not only survived after the Genocide but continue to prosper.