Event Listing - Music

Fri Nov 6 - Sat Nov 7

Kitka & Hasmik Harutyunyan: Armenian Lullabies and Songs of Longing

Cradle Songs CD Release Celebration Concerts

Tel. 510-444-0323
Email Kitka & Hasmik Harutyunyan: Armenian Lullabies and Songs of Longing
Website

Location	Date and Time
Oakland Locations
St Vartan Church 650 Spruce St Oakland, CA 94610 district: Oakland	Sat Nov 7 (8 pm)
San Francisco Locations
St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church 500 De Haro St San Francisco, CA 94107 district: San Francisco	Fri Nov 6 (8 pm)

Description

One of Armenia’s leading folk singers, Hasmik Harutyunyan is world-renowned for her work with Yerevan’s Shoghaken Ensemble and for her mellifluous renditions of Armenian lullabies, one of the most ancient and evocative genres in Armenian music. Her quietly passionate interpretations of lullabies from historical villages across the Armenian plateau offer a mesmerizing glimpse at a lost world. She draws strength and inspiration from her ancestors in the province of Mush in Historic Armenia, especially her grandmother, Mafo (pictured on reverse), who sang to her as a child. In addition to songs sung by her family, Hasmik learned many of the lullabies in her repertoire from old women who had emigrated from Anatolia to eastern Armenia before or during the Armenian massacres of 1915, as well as from their descendants and old song collections. Hasmik Harutyunyan’s CD, Armenian Lullabies (Traditional Crossroads), was praised in a New York Times review as “The best Armenian recording worldwide.”

Joining Hasmik Harutyunyan will be the women’s vocal ensemble Kitka. Kitka, meaning “bouquet” in Bulgarian and Macedonian, is now celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season. Kitka began as a grassroots group of singers from diverse ethnic and musical backgrounds who shared a passion for the stunning dissonances, asymmetric rhythms, intricate ornamentation, lush harmonies, and resonant strength of Balkan, Slavic, and Caucasian women’s vocal traditions. The group has since evolved into a professional touring ensemble, earning international recognition for its artistry, versatility, and fresh approach to folk music.

SAN FRANCISCO
Friday, November 6
St. Gregory of Nyssa Church
500 De Haro St.
8 PM

OAKLAND
Saturday, November 7
St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church
650 Spruce St.
4 PM: Armenian Folk Songs and Dances Workshop
8 PM: Concert

FRESNO
Sunday, November 8
CSUF Concert Hall
Co-Sponsored by the CSUF Armenian Studies and Music Departments

The Rusalka Cycle
Hasmik Harutyunyan
from Yerevan’s Shoghaken Ensemble

The Rusalka Cycle
Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble
Photo: Sarah Small

Armenian Lullabies and Songs of Longing

“Bliss in a minor key…” — The Oregonian

This project is supported, in part, by grants from the James Irvine Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund,
The Clorox Community Foundation, and the City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program.