Monday, December 26, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian Art sold at Christies for charity
Many social programs and children's groups will benefit from this first-time Armenian Art auction at Christies.
Abres!!!!!
London - The first ever auction of Contemporary Armenian art at Christie's held on December 9 brought together the works of some of the most brilliant Armenian artists. The proceeds of the auction will benefit heritage-led regeneration and social impact projects in Armenia.
Viscount Linley, President of Christie's, warmly welcomed the guests during the reception before the auction. "The generous support you can give at this evening's auction of spectacular art," he said, "will help to preserve Armenia's vast architectural heritage, an integral part of the soul of the country, and will ensure the continuation of traditional architecture and craftsmanship for future generations."
The charity auction was organised for the benefit of the creation of a sanctuary and clinic for single mothers and disadvantaged children in the heart of Yerevan, which is part of the "Yerevan My Love" project. The centre will have well-equipped modern facilities and will provide professional social and health services to destitute mothers and children.
The auction was hosted by Dr. Armen Sarkissian, former Prime Minister of Armenia and president of "Yerevan My Love" Foundation, who highlighted the charitable nature of the auction and noted that for the first time in Christie's nearly 250 year history, Armenian Art has finally arrived at one of the world's finest auction houses.
"This auction at Christie's nearly 40 years after the opening of the first Modern Art Museum in Yerevan is yet another milestone and historic event as it exposes Armenian artists to an international audience," remarked Sarkissian.
Karine Kazinyan, Armenia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, in her address highlighted the significance of the charity auction on the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence and encouraged everyone present to be generous.
Hugh Edmeades, International Director of Auctioneering at Christie's, led the auction in an exciting atmosphere. A number of paintings saw fierce competition of bids, especially works by Hagop Hagopyan, Narek Avetissyan, Ararat Sargsyan and Hamlet Hovsepyan. In addition to the benefactors and supporters of Yerevan My Love, the international audience included participants from Europe, the United States, Russia and Armenia, as well as bids placed over the phone. The vast majority of the works were sold on the night.
Following the auction, Armen Sarkissian hosted a private dinner for the benefactors of Yerevan My Love, VIPs and executives of Christie's at the Cut restaurant in Mayfair. He thanked everyone who had taken part in the auction and especially the benefactors who have supported Yerevan My Love over the years.
'Yerevan My Love' is dedicated to preserving architecturally significant buildings in Yerevan and putting them to use to improve the life experience of disabled children, young people and disadvantaged families. Following the successful fundraising in Windsor Castle (2010) and Buckingham Palace (2011), three buildings in the vicinity of St. Hovhanes Church in the Kond neighbourhood of Yerevan are being built and reconstructed. Three additional buildings will be reconstructed in the Old Yerevan neighbourhood as part of the second phase of 'Yerevan My Love project'.
The online catalogue of Armenian Contemporary Art is at this link: http://christies.scene7.com/s7/brochure/flash_brochure.jsp?company=Christies&sku=6011_SaleCat&config=Christies/eCat_230x297_TOC&locale=en&wb=000000
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian - Armenian Artists to appear and speak at ANCA activism panel
Carla Garapedian
http://asbarez.com/99308/carla-garapedian-to-speak-at-%E2%80%98anc-grassroots%E2%80%99-panel-on-activism-through-film-and-arts/
Acclaimed composer, producer Eric V. Hachikian to moderate panel
GLENDALE—The Armenian National Committee – Western Region announced that documentary filmmaker Carla Garapedian will serve as a panelist in “Lights, Camera, Activate,” which will cover the ways in which film, music and the arts can be used to promote grassroots activism. The presentation is part of the ANC Grassroots weekend that will take place from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.
Carla Garapedian is the Director and Producer of the film “Screamers,” featuring the world-renowned band System of a Down, which went on nationwide theatrical release in the United States and Canada in 2006-7. The critically acclaimed film debuted at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles in November 2006 where it won the coveted Audience Award. After its theatrical release, the film was shown at film festivals around the world and screenings sponsored by the U.S. Congress, British, Canadian and European Parliaments, as well as the United Nations. With its many film reviews, newspaper features and internet discussions, the film changed the public debate on recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Working from Britain, Carla Garapedian has been a Director and Producer since 1989. She earned her Ph.D. in international relations at the London School of Economics before working as a producer, director and correspondent based in London. She is the only American to anchor BBC World News. She has been a correspondent for NBC Sunrise, NBC Nightly News and CNBC in London.
She made her name as an international documentary director with “Lifting the Veil,” a film about the brutal treatment of women in Afghanistan. In “Dying for the President,” she made world headlines in 2000 by sneaking into Chechnya to document the Russian army’s single worst war crime – the bombing of a white-flag refugee convoy.
She narrated the Armenian genocide films, “Voices from the Lake” and “The River Ran Red” by acclaimed filmmaker, J. Michael Hagopian, as well as co-wrote his award-winning film “Germany and the Secret Genocide.” Garapedian is leading the Armenian Film Foundation’s project to digitize a rare collection of 400 Armenian genocide survivor interviews into Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation visual history archive, which currently holds 52,000 Holocaust survivor interviews. This unique project will make available, for the first time, the testimonials of Armenian genocide survivors to universities around the world. Along with testimonials from the Rwandan, Cambodian and Bosnian genocides, this archive will be one of the largest genocide testimonial archives in the world.
She is the founder of the Pomegranate Foundation, which holds an annual student film festival, the Pomegranate Student Film Fest.
The Foundation’s goal is to raise awareness about genocide, and all forms of intolerance, by supporting young filmmakers and other artists.
Garapedian joins Serj Tankian, Eric Nazarian and Suzanne Khardalian on this panel of film and music luminaries, which will be moderated by Eric V. Hachikian.
Eric Hachikian
Hachikian is an Armenian-American composer, whose music has been hailed by the New York Times as “lovely and original.”
His compositions and orchestrations can be heard in a variety of major motion pictures and network television shows. As Creative Director and Partner of Soundcat Productions, a music house based in New York and Los Angeles, Hachikian has written and produced music for national and international ad campaigns. Hachikian has also written for Off-Broadway productions of “New House Under Construction”, “A Christmas Carol” and “The Snow Maiden”, and his compositions have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Pops Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Boston Pops Orchestra, and in such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, and in Boston’s Symphony Hall.
Hachikian studied Nadia Boulanger’s methods in Paris, France, and has also studied composition and audio engineering at the Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals. He received his Bachelor of Music with highest honors from the University of Michigan, and his Master of Arts from New York University. Also a performer, Eric plays the piano and tuba, is a classically trained vocalist, and an accomplished conductor.
His film “Voyage to Amasia” about his grandmother’s exile from her village in 1915 during the Armenian Genocide, and his subsequent return to that village in modern day Turkey, will premiere at the Pomegranate Film Festival in Toronto on December 4.
The three-day ANC Grassroots program is a groundbreaking weekend of workshops and panel presentations that will educate the community about civic leadership arising from grassroots efforts. This powerful event encompassing Armenian economic, cultural and social issues with a number of dynamic speakers will provide activists with the tools to amplify the Hai Tahd message. ANC Grassroots will bookend the Armenian National Committee of America- Western Region (ANCA-WR) Annual Banquet, which will take place on Saturday, November 26 at 7 p.m.
The conference and Annual Banquet are open to interested individuals throughout the entire United States, and participants are encouraged to register early.
Due to a generous contribution by an anonymous donor the ANC has announced a significant reduction in ticket prices.
Tickets for ANC Grassroots, which includes the Friday night cocktail in the Starview Room; as well as conference sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which include breakfast, post-banquet dance, and the keynote luncheon on Sunday, are $49. Students with valid ID can purchase discounted tickets for $39.
Tickets for the Annual Banquet are $200. Students with valid ID can purchase discounted tickets for $150.
For more information, to register and purchase tickets, please visitwww.anca.org/ancgrassroots.
The Armenian National Committee-Western Region is the largest Armenian American grassroots community organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR works to promote understanding regarding issues of concern to the Armenian American community.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian Lost & Found in Armenia (Official Trailer)
A Great Movie set in Armenia to be released at the end of 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenia's Golden Apricot Festival a success
French actress Fanny Ardant (center) with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian (right) and Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosian at the opening ceremony of the Golden Apricot international film festival on July 10.July 15, 2011
By Gayane Danielian, Hasmik Smbatian, Suren Musayelyan
YEREVAN -- Armenian's eighth annual Golden Apricot international film festival opened this week and is proving a bigger draw than ever.
Named in honor of Armenia's unofficial national fruit, the festival is the brainchild of noted filmmaker Harutiun Khachatryan, who has nurtured it from its first edition in 2004 to the present day. Now it is a highlight of the country's cultural calendar and one of the few events capable of drawing international artistic attention to Yerevan.
Dutch film critic Peter van Bueren is attending the festival, which he said featured a surprisingly large amount of high-quality work for such a relatively low-budget event.
"The quality of the international competition is very high," Van Bueren said. "If you compare the quality of this competition's films with, let's say, the quality of films at competitions in Eastern Europe or international film festivals elsewhere, you can say with confidence that this film festival is much, much better. There are no bad films here."
He added that some of the nearly 150 films from 45 countries being presented this year had already won prizes at other festivals.
'Crossroads Of Cultures And Civilizations'
Golden Apricot's geography ranges from Russia and Kazakhstan to the United States and Canada, from France and Portugal to China, Thailand, and Australia. Armenia's neighbors Turkey, Iran, and Georgia are also featured.
The festival kicked off on July 10 with "Certified Copy," a joint French-Italian production by famed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. It closes with the awarding of jury prizes on July 17.
This year's official theme is "Crossroads of Cultures and Civilizations," and organizers say it embodies the idea of "a global human landscape in the process of transformation and the challenges such transformations pose to human beings."
The guest of honor this year is revered French actress Fanny Ardant, who is screening two works that she directed. Many Armenians believe Ardant has Armenian roots, but she deflected questions about this at a gala July 10 press conference opening the event, saying, "The extent to which I am Armenian is a secret of my family."
The purpose of the festival is to foster Armenia's long-standing cinematographic traditions, which fell into decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its goal is to put the land of Sergei Parajanov and other Armenian film pioneers back onto the global cinema map and to restore its regional prominence.
But organizers are also reaching out for a broad local audience as well. Tickets for all screenings are priced affordably and the festival has been energetically promoted for weeks.
One Yerevan woman spoke to RFE/RL's Armenian Service as she was leaving a festival screening and praised the event for raising the public's aesthetic awareness.
"You can see genuine cinema and understand what cinematography is," she said. "There has been no cinema in Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union."
The Golden Apricot festival aims to change that.
• http://www.rferl.org/content/golden_apricot_film_festival_aims_to_put_armenia_back_on_the_map/24267125.html
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Saturday, July 9, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian Paul Baghdadlian - Asa Asdvadz passes away
LOS ANGELES—Legendary Armenian singer Paul Baghdadlian passed away early Tuesday morning at Glendale Adventist Hospital after a long illness.
Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1953, Paul Baghdadlian is considered one of the most popular Armenian singers throughout the world.
Baghdadlian began his career in 1974 in Beirut, and in 1977 moved to Los Angeles. He has written and produced hundreds of hit songs, mainly love ballads that have captivated Armenians across the globe.
Baghdadlian’s Facebook page was inundated with condolences. “You will always be around in our homes and our hearts… you’re irreplaceable!” wrote one fan. “Paul, I grew up listening to your beautiful ballads, new and exciting pop songs and always looked forward to seeing you live…You were a beautiful person and will be missed,” wrote another.
In an interview in Beirut last year, Baghdadlian said that one of his happiest moments was hearing that two Armenians had gotten married after meeting at one of his concerts.
“It is with a clear conscience that I tell you now that I love and worship Armenia, my fatherland, even more than someone who was born and lived there,” he said on another occasion.
Asbarez will have more coverage of the late singer’s career and accomplishments in later editio
Monday, July 4, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian Art Exhibit in the Ukraine
KIEV. - The exhibition of famous Armenian artist Vardges Surenyants opened at National Museum of Literature of Ukraine.
Armenia’s Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan and her Ukrainian counterpart Mikhail Kulinyak opened the exhibition.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who is on an official visit to Ukraine, also attended the opening ceremony.
“The opening of the exhibition symbolizes the unity of Armenian and Ukrainian people. Today all those present will have an opportunity to see the pearls of Armenian art and feel the spirit of Armenia,” Kulinyak stressed, UKRINFORM reports.
News from Armenia - NEWS.am
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian- Armenian artist Aivazovsky "one of the best painters of mankind"
Andreas Roubian’s Lecture on Aivazovsky at Sotheby’s in New York Concluded Exhibition of the Artist’s Masterworks
Posted on May 29, 2011 by Editor
Aivazovsky’s “Caravan before the Pyramids,” 1871
By Aram Arkun|
Mirror-Spectator Staff
NEW YORK — The New York headquarters of the international art auction firm Sotheby’s hosted a talk by art collector Andreas Roubian on the 19th-century painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, famous for his seascapes, on April 11. Roubian, one of the world’s leading Aivazovsky experts, displayed 10 masterworks of the artist from his own collection during the exhibition for Sotheby’s Russian art auction, April 7 to 11.Roubian, an entrepreneur in the field of international trade and logistics, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New York University’s Stern School of business and worked in several financial institutions. He became the chief financial officer of Danzas, an international logistics provider, in the 1980s, and then founded his own firm called FDS International. When Roubian was in his late twenties, FDS became one of the first software firms to implement paperless processes for the US Customs and related government agencies. After the first Gulf War, FDS provided the international logistics software for Kuwaiti reconstruction in the early 1990s.
Roubian taught finance and management sciences as a visiting lecturer and an adjunct professor at Pace University and the City University of New York for approximately 10 years in the 1980s. He has a large art collection including the works of many other Armenian artists like Hovsep Pushman and Mardiros Sarian.
Sonya Bekkerman, head of Sotheby’s Russian Paintings department in New York, hosted Roubian’s talk. In her introduction, Bekkerman said, “I met Andreas over 10 years ago. He invited me to his home to see his collection. Andreas played a critical role in my first sale of Russian paintings in 2004 and I’m very grateful to him for that. Since that time, I’ve been in many homes in many continents but have yet to see a collection of Aivazovsky of this magnitude, this quality and breadth and I am sure that I will not come across such a collection again.”
Bekkerman said that Roubian’s passion for art and collecting began when he was a teenager, instilled by his mother. Roubian is a leading authority on Aivazovsky who is writing a book focusing on the latter’s artwork. He often loans works from his private collection to museums, but this was the first time a small part of his holdings were displayed at Sotheby’s. Roubian is also an activist on behalf of his fellow Armenians. He served as the chairman of the Karabagh Committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s, helping both the soldiers of Karabagh and providing humanitarian aid to the rest of the population of the region. Roubian was the benefactor for the large cathedral of Shushi in Karabagh, the reconstruction of which he funded in the memory of his parents. Today he continues to be active in Armenian affairs, and supportive of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh. He frequently hosts benefits in his home.
From left, Ambassador Garen Nazarian, Honduras Ambassador to the UN Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake and Andreas Roubian
Roubian presented a brief biography of Aivazovsky (1817-1900). He was born to a poor Armenian family in Theodosia in the Crimea (today Ukraine, but then, in the Russian Empire). His early drawings on walls with charcoal caught the attention of the chief architect of Theodosia, who was Aivazovsky’s father’s friend. Many local dignitaries also noticed him. This attention led to a full, six-year scholarship to the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. Tsar Nicolas I came to love his work and asked him to accompany the Russian navy together with his son. Roubian declared, “This was a match made in heaven and Nicolas I became Aivazovsky’s best patron, buying all of his art.”
Bekkerman interjected that Aivazovsky painted more than 6,000 canvases. Roubian clarified that by 1962 or 1963, there were only around 620 or 650 of his paintings extant in Soviet museums, so that many did not survive. Some of his paintings were cut, painted over (e.g., over 80 percent of those in Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul), or only were fragments. Exposure to sea water also damaged many of his works.
Aivazovsky, like many other artists, has different periods characterized by different styles in his work. In the 1830s, he was a pupil of Romantic landscape painter Maxim Vorobyov and painted directly from nature, as an academician. In the 1840s, he strove to find his inner strength and moved away from painting directly from nature towards a free hand, painting from imagination. His brush stroke gradually evolved. He also moved away from Romanticism towards Realism. In the 1890s he began to deviate from the latter and flirt with Impressionism, but ultimately he remained true to Realism.
In the late 1870s or 1880s Aivazovsky became more of a Russian nationalist, as evidenced by paintings of the tsar or other Russian themes. He was always also loyal to his Armenian roots. When the Russians conquered Kars from the Ottomans, Roubian illustrated, Aivazovsky was overwhelmed as a Russian and as an Armenian, and went to meet Lt. Gen. Arshak Ter-Ghukasov, one of the Russian commanders who was of Armenian origin. He immediately began work on his painting of the victory.
In the 1890s, interestingly for Americans, Aivazovsky became mesmerized with Columbus and the discovery of America. He painted many paintings on this theme, and visited the United States. He actively exhibited in his last decade of life all over the world.
Andreas Roubian and Sonya Bekkerman facing, in the first row, Aksotan Atayeva, UN ambassador of Turkmenistan; second row from left to right, Nana Nazarian, Byrganym Aitimova, UN ambassador of Kazakhstan, UN Director-General at Geneva Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, UN ambassador of Ukraine Yuriy Sergeyev with his wife Nataliya Sergeyeva and Garen Nazarian, UN ambassador of Armenia
Aivazovsky was a very successful entrepreneur in his own way and did not participate much in group exhibitions. This led many other artists to become envious of him. He did not have a studio with people working for him, but he did encourage amateurs to copy his paintings. Furthermore, many Armenian artists were influenced by him and visited him in the Crimea. At the same time, not all of his works were masterpieces, and so there are many Aivazovsky’s of inferior quality. Nonetheless, Roubian said, “If you understand his brushstroke like Sonya or I does, you can tell in a heartbeat what came from his hand.”
The select group of Aivazovsky paintings on display included “Stampede of Sheep during the Storm,” which was painted in 1861. Aivazovsky considered this to be one of his important works, and displayed it in a London exhibition. He loved sheep and owned many. In the painting, the sheep exhibit individual expressions of fear.
In the 1860s, Aivazovsky went to the Caucasus, intending to visit Armenia and the Catholicos in Echmiadzin. He never made it there because of terrible weather, but he painted his first “Mount Ararat” in 1869 in Tbilisi, which Roubian was exhibiting. Aivazovsky had never seen the mountain, but the details are excellent. There is even a monkey on a camel in the foreground. This was one of Aivazovsky’s favorite paintings.
Among the other masterpieces exhibited, “Alexander II Crossing the Danube” (1878) is one of the rare surviving paintings depicting this tsar, which was painted for Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to commemorate the Russian victory in the recent war against the Ottoman Empire. Nearby, “Caravan before the Pyramids” was displayed in the same room. Painted in 1871, it is considered by some critics to be one of the best Aivazovsky paintings in the world.
Bekkerman asked what it meant to Roubian to be a collector, and why in particular he chose Aivazovsky’s works. The answer was that, “Collecting of art for an intellectual or somebody who is exposed to the finer elements of life, is inspiration. You can just look at art, and see something new each time….I never bought a single painting for money. I bought for my own satisfaction. I am an Armenian activist. I’m very American too. Similarly, Aivazovsky being Armenian, as well as Ukrainian and Russian, showed that one can be a great Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian, all at the same time.”
Roubian emphatically concluded, “Aivazovsky is one of the best painters of mankind, unequivocally.”
The large and distinguished audience at Sotheby’s included many diplomats such as Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director-General of the United Nations (UN) Office at Geneva; and the permanent representatives to the UN of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Honduras and Russia, respectively Ambassadors Karen Nazarian, Byrganym Aitimova, Yuriy Sergeyev, Aksoltan Atayeva, Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake and Vitaly Churkin.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian Planet
Absolutely beautiful Armenian paintings here.
http://www.armenianplanet.com/about28373.html
http://www.armenianplanet.com/about28373.html
Vanessa Kachadurian- Horizon Armenian TV Live Stream
http://www.horizonarmeniantv.com/
For my buddies in the Armenian media. ENJOY!
For my buddies in the Armenian media. ENJOY!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian- Cher icon of American music turns 65
Cher at 2010 MTV awards presents Lady Gaga with award.
Cher, like a fine glass of wine you just get better!
Happy Birthday---shad sirrun!!
We love you!
http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/music/article1077174.ece/Music-icon-Cher-turns-65
Before Madonna or Lady Gaga, there was Cher, a forerunner of the current crop of musical divas, with her fondness for head dresses, sequined gowns and a fearlessness of harnessing her sexuality as part of her carefully crafted public persona.
Throughout her career, Cher has sold more than 100 million records, but she said in a recent interview that her most recent hit -- last year's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" -- has particular poignancy at this moment in her career.
"That song, for me, had a lot of meaning," she told a California newspaper last year, saying that it reminded her that "I have to kind of move over".
"Not that I'm doing it gracefully, because you'd have to pull me over kicking and screaming," she said in her interview with the Fresno Bee.
Cher is a singular character on the American cultural landscape for her longevity and her ability to reinvent her career over a career spanning six decades.
Even the pop stars of the moment, not known generally to show deference to their musical elders, pay homage to Cher.
"How could you not learn from Cher with her work ethic and the way she commands attention when she walks into a room, but exudes such peaceful tranquility and love for everyone?" said singer Christina Aguilera.
Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946 to an Armenian truck driver who abandoned the family when she was just two-years-old, and a mother who cobbled together a living as a sometime actress model.
A 16-year-old high school dropout with hip-length raven hair and striking but atypical good looks, Cher met husband-to-be musician Sonny Bono at a Sunset Boulevard coffee shop.
At barely 18, she teamed up with him to record "I Got You, Babe," the first of many massive hits.
The chart-topping 1965 tune became the duo's biggest single and their signature song, and was on Rolling Stone's magazine list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.
The couple married in 1969. Then came a daughter, Chastity, and their groundbreaking television variety act, "The Sonny and Cher Show," one of the most popular programs of the early 1970s.
Throughout early stardom, Cher was a style icon, equally as comfortable in bell bottom jeans and navel-baring cropped tops, she was in the floor-length form-fitting gowns that were staple attire on her show.
Her marriage to Sonny ended in 1974. A second marriage, to musician Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, produced one son, Elijah Blue Allman. That union fell apart after barely two years.
But, the queen of reinvention, Cher launched her acting career around that time, earning lead role honours opposite Meryl Streep when they made "Silkwood" in 1983.
A few years later, she was awarded an Oscar for her starring role in the hit 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck" opposite Nicolas Cage.
Her on-again, off-again music career took off again at the end of the 1980s, when she had one of her biggest solo hits, "If I could Turn Back Time."
The tune might also have been describing her physical appearance, given her acknowledged penchant for plastic surgery, or her numerous farewell tours and comeback concerts.
Recently Cher has been in the news because of Chastity -- now known as Chaz -- who is now living as a transgendered man.
A new film, "Becoming Chaz" which debuted this year at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the medical and social transition of Chaz from female to male.
Over the years, in addition to her music and screen career, Cher has starred in a Las Vegas live show, with nearly 200 appearances.
Her latest musical hit was last year's "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," heard in the film "Burlesque," which also marked her first big screen appearance in more than a decade -- the latest being the 1999 film "Tea with Mussolini".
In "Burlesque," she plays as a down-on-her-luck nightclub owner, opposite Aguilera, who waxed rhapsodic about her co-star.
"She's been there and done everything, before any of us," the singer said.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian- #1 performer in France Charles Aznavour to be honored
Musicians, artists and community leaders from across the globe will gather to pay tribute to one of the world's greatest musicians and entertainers - Charles Aznavour - in a star-studded event to take place at the exquisite Cipriani Wall Street on May 20.
The evening will serve as an opportunity to highlight not only Aznavour's talents, but his decades-long service to Armenia on the eve of the republic's 20th anniversary of independence.
Presenting the award to Aznavour will be the famous actress/singer Liza Minnelli, whose friendship with him dates back almost 50 years. Seeing Aznavour perform on stage for the first time was "magnetic" for Minnelli. "The minute he walked onstage, I stopped breathing," she said.
The event will feature guest of honor, Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The evening's proceeds will benefit the disadvantaged elderly people of Armenia, including the Vanadzor Old Age Home in Armenia, a loving, nurturing refuge for older Armenians who have no other means of support. The Vanadzor Home was started by Aznavour, who personally requested Fund for Armenian Relief to assume responsibility for its upkeep and operation.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden for Armenian music school
Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Whitesnake form supergroup for charity.
http://www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=Deep-Purple,-Black-Sabbath,-Iron-Maiden,-Metallica-and-Whitesnake-form-supergroup-for-charity&nItemID=40580
Normally, if someone says who cares, you don't pay a lot of attention but the new hard rock/metal supergroup calling themselves WhoCares won't let themselves go unnoticed.
Built around Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), the group also features bassist Jason Newsted (Metallica), keyboard player Jon Lord (Deep Purple, Whitesnake), drummer Nicko McBain (Iron Maiden) and Linde Lindstrom (HIM).
The artists have come together to record a single, Out of My Mind/Holy Water, which will be released on May 6 and will benefit the rebuilding of a music school in Gyumri, Armenia which was destroyed by an earthquake back in 1988. Gillan and Iommi were part of a fundraising effort in 1989 called Rock Aid Armenia that released an album and a cover version of Smoke on the Water.
Jump ahead twenty years and Gillan and Iommi are given the Armenian Medal of Honor for their work. Iommi said in a statement "Some twenty years ago when the call came, I thought, well at least I've helped but it was going to Armenia and seeing the actual devastation caused by the earthquake that really made me realize that funds were still needed. Despite all the money that was raised last time, here was a music school doing their best, forgotten, in basic tin sheds. After the warmth and honor bestowed upon us during our visit, we just had to help make a difference and get the school re-built. And what better way than to hook up with some of rock's greatest players and my old mate Ian, both an honor and a pleasure."
Gillan added "The idea came as Tony and I flew back from Yerevan together after being inspired by the enthusiasm of everyone there to get this thing done. It was brilliant working with Tony again after all these years; he makes life easy for a singer. The other guys need no introduction do they."
The new tracks will be released via digital sources along with on CD with a 40-minute documentary on the pairs involvement with Armenia. A 7" vinyl version, limited to 1,000 copies, will also be released.
http://www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=Deep-Purple,-Black-Sabbath,-Iron-Maiden,-Metallica-and-Whitesnake-form-supergroup-for-charity&nItemID=40580
Normally, if someone says who cares, you don't pay a lot of attention but the new hard rock/metal supergroup calling themselves WhoCares won't let themselves go unnoticed.
Built around Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), the group also features bassist Jason Newsted (Metallica), keyboard player Jon Lord (Deep Purple, Whitesnake), drummer Nicko McBain (Iron Maiden) and Linde Lindstrom (HIM).
The artists have come together to record a single, Out of My Mind/Holy Water, which will be released on May 6 and will benefit the rebuilding of a music school in Gyumri, Armenia which was destroyed by an earthquake back in 1988. Gillan and Iommi were part of a fundraising effort in 1989 called Rock Aid Armenia that released an album and a cover version of Smoke on the Water.
Jump ahead twenty years and Gillan and Iommi are given the Armenian Medal of Honor for their work. Iommi said in a statement "Some twenty years ago when the call came, I thought, well at least I've helped but it was going to Armenia and seeing the actual devastation caused by the earthquake that really made me realize that funds were still needed. Despite all the money that was raised last time, here was a music school doing their best, forgotten, in basic tin sheds. After the warmth and honor bestowed upon us during our visit, we just had to help make a difference and get the school re-built. And what better way than to hook up with some of rock's greatest players and my old mate Ian, both an honor and a pleasure."
Gillan added "The idea came as Tony and I flew back from Yerevan together after being inspired by the enthusiasm of everyone there to get this thing done. It was brilliant working with Tony again after all these years; he makes life easy for a singer. The other guys need no introduction do they."
The new tracks will be released via digital sources along with on CD with a 40-minute documentary on the pairs involvement with Armenia. A 7" vinyl version, limited to 1,000 copies, will also be released.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian and Turkish statue gets court stay
Turkish court stays demolition of Kars statue
ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
An administrative court in the eastern province of Erzurum has granted a stay of execution against the demolition of Kars’ Monument to Humanity, a peace sculpture described as “freakish” by the prime minister in January.
“The Erzurum 1st Administrative Court granted a motion for a stay of execution of the Kars Municipal Assembly’s decision to demolish the ‘Monument to Humanity’ in order to avoid any [possible] irrevocable damage that could be done to the statue,” said lawyer Aslı Kazan, who is acting on behalf of the sculpture’s creator, Mehmet Aksoy.
The sculpture cannot be demolished until the court case is finalized, Kazan told Anatolia news agency on Monday.
Aksoy brought court action against a decision by the eastern province of Kars to demolish the sculpture after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the monument looked “freakish” and vowed to take it down.
The court decision came on the same day an auction was to be held in the eastern province to select the company that would demolish the statue. Six companies presented their proposals to the tendering authority Monday.
If the Erzurum court eventually chooses to permit the demolition of the sculpture, the company that wins the auction will be given 60 days by the local municipality to remove the Monument to Humanity. The sculpture will reportedly be dismantled before being carted away.
Erdoğan sparked controversy on the monument during his visit earlier this year when he said the monument, which is placed on a high hill overlooking the city, was both “freakish” and threatened to overshadow historical locations such as the Seyyid Hasal El Harakani tomb and mosque.
After the prime minister ordered the sculpture’s demolition, Kars’ municipal assembly passed a motion to tear down the monument, saying it had been illegally erected in a protected area.
The unfinished monument, which depicts two figures meeting, is 35 meters tall, weighs 300 tons and is meant to represent efforts to foster friendship between the Turkish and Armenian peoples. Aksoy has planned for one of the figures to shed a tear in regret while the other extends its hand in reconciliation if permission is granted for the completion of the monument.
© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=court-stops-razing-of-armenia-friendship-statue-2011-03-08
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian - The Hughes Brothers "Book of Eli" "From Hell", "Dead Presidents" and more
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors, producers and screenwriters. The pair, who are twins, are known for co-directing such visceral, and often violent, movies as Menace II Society, From Hell and The Book of Eli.
Early lives
The Hughes brothers were born in Detroit, Michigan to an African American father and an Armenian American mother, Aida, whose family were Iranian Armenians from Tehran. Albert is the older of the twins by nine minutes; although they originally believed themselves to be fraternal twins, they suspect they may be identical despite not having had a DNA test. Their parents divorced when they were two. The twins moved with their mother to Pomona, California, east of Los Angeles, when they were nine. The mother raised her sons alone while putting herself through school and starting her own business, a vocational center. Supportive of her sons' ambitions as filmmakers, she gave them a video camera when they were twelve. As a result, the boys spent their free time making short films. When a teacher suggested that they make a "How To" film for an assignment, they complied with a short film entitled "How to Be a Burglar."
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian Comedy show at KZV School San Francisco
Comedy Show (in Armenian) Actors from Armenia USA, CA-North San Francisco Sat, 26 Mar 2011 7:30 p.m.March 26, 2011
Organizer: KZV Armenian School & Hamazkayin - Contact Organizer. 415-586-8686
Event Type: Comedy / Admission: $35, sponsors $100
Location: Khachaturian Armenian Community Center, Saroyan Hall 825 Brotherhood Way
Krouzian Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian Schoolin collaboration w/ Hamazkayin SF Nigol Aghpalian Chapter presentDON JVAN - Avia (Don Juan of the Air)Katakergoutiun (Comedy) about air travelactors: Hrant Tokhatyan, Narek Duryan, Naira Movsisyan, Luiza Nersisyan, Tamara PetrosyanSaturday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.Khatchaturian Armenian Community CenterSaroyan Hall825 Brotherhood WaySan Francisco, CAFor tickets, contact School Office: Sose @ 415-586-8686Angelique Arzoumanian 408-396-4390Levon Ishag 650-345-7870 or 415-999-5554Also playing in Los Angeles, Fresno, Boston, New York, Montreal, Toronto
Organizer: KZV Armenian School & Hamazkayin - Contact Organizer. 415-586-8686
Event Type: Comedy / Admission: $35, sponsors $100
Location: Khachaturian Armenian Community Center, Saroyan Hall 825 Brotherhood Way
Krouzian Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian Schoolin collaboration w/ Hamazkayin SF Nigol Aghpalian Chapter presentDON JVAN - Avia (Don Juan of the Air)Katakergoutiun (Comedy) about air travelactors: Hrant Tokhatyan, Narek Duryan, Naira Movsisyan, Luiza Nersisyan, Tamara PetrosyanSaturday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.Khatchaturian Armenian Community CenterSaroyan Hall825 Brotherhood WaySan Francisco, CAFor tickets, contact School Office: Sose @ 415-586-8686Angelique Arzoumanian 408-396-4390Levon Ishag 650-345-7870 or 415-999-5554Also playing in Los Angeles, Fresno, Boston, New York, Montreal, Toronto
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian Artists team up with Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder to perform at concert timed to Armenian Genocide 100th anniversary
February 4, 2011 - 17:11 AMT 13:11 GMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian government is teaming up with Stevie Wonder and a roster of international performers to bring a higher profile to Genocide recognition efforts.
Armenian dignitaries and music promoters in Glendale unveiled plans for a five-year series of concerts, dubbed “Never Again,” to keep the Armenian Genocide and other human rights atrocities in the public eye.
The series is scheduled to culminate with performances in 2015, the 100-year anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Supporters say the effort is a companion to long-standing political and legal efforts by Armenian-Americans to have the United States formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
“Something that may not be done through the power of politics can be done through the power of music,” said Anush Hovsepyan, spokeswoman for Glendale-based nonprofit Artists for Peace.
Hovsepyan said the program also is intended to highlight the many atrocities that have occurred even after a 1948 United Nations resolution condemning genocide, including those in Rwanda, Cambodia and Sudan.
Armenian diplomats voiced their support for the effort.
Grigor Hovhannissian, the Glendale-based consul general for Armenia in the western United States, said the Armenian government supports the effort.
The first “Never Again” concert is scheduled to take place April 17 at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City with Wonder; Canadian songwriter and producer David Foster — who has worked with Celine Dion, Josh Groban and others — and Flora Martirosyan, a popular Armenian performer who recently recorded the genocide-themed song and video “Never Again.”
Promoters are hoping to add other names to the roster of performers, Glendale News –Press reported.
February 4, 2011 - 17:11 AMT 13:11 GMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian government is teaming up with Stevie Wonder and a roster of international performers to bring a higher profile to Genocide recognition efforts.
Armenian dignitaries and music promoters in Glendale unveiled plans for a five-year series of concerts, dubbed “Never Again,” to keep the Armenian Genocide and other human rights atrocities in the public eye.
The series is scheduled to culminate with performances in 2015, the 100-year anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Supporters say the effort is a companion to long-standing political and legal efforts by Armenian-Americans to have the United States formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
“Something that may not be done through the power of politics can be done through the power of music,” said Anush Hovsepyan, spokeswoman for Glendale-based nonprofit Artists for Peace.
Hovsepyan said the program also is intended to highlight the many atrocities that have occurred even after a 1948 United Nations resolution condemning genocide, including those in Rwanda, Cambodia and Sudan.
Armenian diplomats voiced their support for the effort.
Grigor Hovhannissian, the Glendale-based consul general for Armenia in the western United States, said the Armenian government supports the effort.
The first “Never Again” concert is scheduled to take place April 17 at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City with Wonder; Canadian songwriter and producer David Foster — who has worked with Celine Dion, Josh Groban and others — and Flora Martirosyan, a popular Armenian performer who recently recorded the genocide-themed song and video “Never Again.”
Promoters are hoping to add other names to the roster of performers, Glendale News –Press reported.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian- Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian
Kim spent half of Father’s Day with her Metz Pap (Diaspora/Western Armenian for “grandpa”) and wrote in her blog:
“I spent yesterday with my Grandpa (my dad’s dad.) He’s 93! Love you Grandpa!”
http://armeniansworld.com/?p=9053
Vanessa Kachadurian-Armenian Artist Sevada
Sevada Grigoryan, Armenia Artist & Genius Sevada Grigoryan was born in 1959 in Goris which is in the southern region of Armenia.He started drawing from the early ages of his childhood. He graduated from Yerevan State Institute, the department of painting(1975-1979). Then he have attended Riga State Academy of Fine Arts in Latvia. He has participated in many international exhibitions. Also he had some solo and group exhibitions. He has tried many technics of drawing such as pastel, oil. But lately he have discovered acrylic, which lets him create his fairy tale world.
http://armeniansworld.com/?p=9455
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian Art- Cher
Cherilyn Sarkissian aka CHER
The Armenian Side of Cher
BY TOM VARTABEDIAN
Say what you want about Kim Kardashian and the other sisters. But for my money, Cher continues to be my dream girl. Always was. Always will be.
Not that I have a love affair with the woman. An infatuation for beauty and talent mixed is more like it. And durability. To continue going this strong in Hollywood and Las Vegas at the ripe age of 64 probably takes a lot of makeup but more passion for the entertainment world. She’s still a class act, a true Armenian American icon.
That is why I shall be in her corner come Academy Awards time. If she doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for her role in the current production of “Burlesque,” I shall cancel my subscription to Hollywood Magazine and demand an investigation.
Her role as the club owner and den mother to a host of showgirls is truly impeccable. I marveled at her Academy Award-winning performance in “Moonstruck.” And I found her just as remarkable in such other films as “Mask,” “Witches of Eastwick,” “Tea with Mussolini,” and “Silkwood,” which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Here’s what one critic has to say about this present campy musical. “It takes a legend to make a star. Without Cher, ‘Burlesque’ wouldn’t work.”
The musical side is just as impressive, going back to the TV days of Sonny Bono. She’s sold more than 100 million records. Her concert tours are still sold-out. In truth, Cher knows no hiatus.
Though I’m a tad older than Cher, she was always the one I would showcase whenever outsiders asked me to identify any prominent Armenians.
“Well, you know Cher,” I would respond, calling to mind her given name, Cherilyn Sarkisian.
“No kidding, Cher’s Armenian?” they would reply. “I had no idea.”
The year was 1985, precisely 25 years ago. I was a well-groomed journalist for the Haverhill Gazette and was notified that Cher would be receiving the coveted Hasty Pudding Award given at Harvard University as Female Actress of the Year.
I talked my editor into going to Cambridge and covering the story, despite some resistance. He saw no local connection to the event so I drummed up an alibi.
“She happens to be a friend of mine,” I told him. “Can get a personal story and beat the other Boston papers.”
In some ways, that wasn’t far from the truth, given the ideology that all Armenians happen to be related through ethnicity. To be meeting Cher for the first time was indeed a revelation.
There she was, as glamorous as ever, in the back seat of a Mercedes convertible with the top down, waving to fans in a motorcade through Harvard Square. I waved, too, but she didn’t see me.
It wasn’t until we had adjourned to an auditorium when a more formal introduction occurred. I cornered her press agent and told the woman I was Armenian like Cher and would like a word with her. She obliged me.
“Eench bes es?” I said, offering an ethnic greeting.
It was then that Cher bowled me over with a perfectly controlled dialect of Armenian that totally caught me off guard. The woman knew her language and was relatively fluid, obviously getting it from her dad’s side. What I learned about John Sarkisian was that he drove a truck, gambled, and had spent time in prison. It was not the best relationship for an adolescent.
I also quickly discovered other Armenians in the crowd who also began exercising their native language. Cher had a definite Armenian following that afternoon and she didn’t disappoint when it came to her culture and heritage.
There was noticeable pride etched across her face which complemented her smile. What’s more, I figured if I was going to get the inside scoop on this starlight, I had better keep talking Armenian.
“What’d she say?” my competition wondered. “What kind of language is she speaking? Hey, that’s not fair.”
Well, sir, you should have been born an Armenian and perhaps you could have gained her better side in this interview, I snickered to myself. In the end, I came away with a story none of the other papers could match. Even my editors were amazed.
It’s no secret that Cher has reached out to the indigent of Armenia over her prominent career. And no wonder that she has shown a distinct charitable side in supporting people of her kind in this country.
Even today, when people ask me, “Armenian? What’s that?” I can still reply after all these years, “You want to know what Armenian is? Go ask Cher!”
Like her hit song, “The beat goes on!”
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian- Tata Simonyan sells out Staples Center
Liana at IANYAN magazine covered this great event read about it here:
http://www.ianyanmag.com/2010/10/12/tata-simonyan-plays-to-thousands-in-los-angeles/
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian - Conductor Ohan Durian Dies
YEREVAN (ArmRadio)—The famed Armenian conductor Ohan Durian died on the morning of January 6 at the age of 88.
Born in Jerusalem on September 2, 1922, Durian studied at the Jerusalem Conservatoire after which he immigrated to Europe where he performed with 110 prominent orchestras before moving to Armenia in 1959 where he worked as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra until 1964.
From 1963 to 1968, Durian conducted the Oper Leipzig and served as guest conductor for the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras.
Throughout his life, Durian performed with 110 prominent orchestras, working with, among others, the opera and symphony orchestras of Avignon and Cape Town
Maestro Durian has been compared to such conductors as A.Toscanini, A.Nikisch, H.Karajan, L.Stokowsky and L.Bernstein.
Prior to his death, Durian served as the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the “Ohan Durian” Radio&TV Symphony Orchestra, which he founded, and the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Yerevan Opera Theatre.
He is the author of two symphonic suites and was the first to perform many symphonic works by Armenian composers.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Vanessa Kachadurian-Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia
Awards
Special Jury Award
Gdansk DocFilm Festival, Poland
[2010]
Best Cinematography Award
Saratov Suffering International Film Festival
[2010]
Best Feature Length Documentary Award
Russia Documentary Film Festival
[2010]
Special Prize
Russia Documentary Film Festival
[2010]
Golden Apricot, Best Armenian Film
Golden Apricot International Film Festival - Yerevan
[2010]...
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