News

by Dickran Kouymjian What was it like to teach at Berkeley? I have been asked that many times since returning to Fresno. Not much different than teaching at Fresno State. The best students in my classes at the University of California were about the same as the best students at Fresno State, except that there were proportionately more of them ...

Staff Report Born into a musical family in Yerevan, Armenia , Vardan Mamikonian began studying the piano at the age of seven and quickly showed exceptional talent. After completing studies in Armenia, Mamikonian continued at the Moscow Conservatory for two years and then moved on to the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory where he became a pupil of Valery Kastelsky, himself the ...

By Dickran Kouymjian Archbishop Vatche, Very Reverend Mushegh, Father Raphael, Reverend Minassian, Mr. Consul General and Mrs. Baibourtian, distinguished clergy and guests, ladies and gentlemen. What a wonderful occasion! Many of us have mixed memories of getting a visa for Armenia, arriving at the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco or another city to get a visa for Armenia, wondering if ...

By Jacqueline Arikian Hidden in the special collections section of the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State, exists a display of Armenians in America: Fresno as “Refuge.” It is in the side room of the fourth floor where one can walk through Little Armenia and grasp a taste of Armenian life. In this exhibit lies the stories of those who ...

By Michael Kloster English Department, UC Berkeley On November 15th an international conference “Saroyan Plus Fifteen” was held on the University of California, Berkeley campus to commemorate the work and life of William Saroyan. The gathering was jointly sponsored by the newly established William Saroyan Chair of Armenian Studies, the English Department, the Center for Slavic and East European Studies, ...

Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Y. Chamirian, Fresno CA Dr. and Mrs. Arnold Gazarian, Fresno CA John & Jane Havoonjian, Yorba Linda CA Mr. & Mrs. Shavarsh Hazarabedian, Moraga CA Mr. & Mrs. Hagop Khoubesserian, Willowdale CA Rafik Simonyan, Areni Armenia

By Barlow Der Mugrdechian Yerevan Women’s Choir of Armenia. MEG Recordings, P.O. Box 412, Cambridge, MA 02338. 69 minutes, 18 seconds. Cambridge, Massachusetts based composer and musician Dr. Ohannes Salibian has been producing a series of digitally recorded compact discs, one of the latest of which is called Yerevan Women’s Choir of Armenia.The choir is under the direction of Artur ...

By Bill Erysian For the newly-arriving visitor to Armenia these days, expectations about the state of an economy in transition can be uncertain, but it does not take very long after your plane lands to see there are lots of bright spots on the horizon especially for Armenian agriculture. That’s the consensus from a team of Fresno agriculture specialists who ...

By Jacqueline Arikian Armenians. A group of people whose stories are a reflection of their suffering and survival throughout time. A group of people whose wars, according to William Saroyan, “have been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, whose literature is unread, whose music is unheard, and whose prayers are no more answered.” On the evening of November fifth, ...

By Crissi Jelladian In the city of Fresno there is so much to be done and many people that can use extra help in various activities. With this knowledge the Armenian Students Organization has taken time out to assist our friends at the Fresno Armenian Community School. This school educates children of Armenian descent grades K-6. The one problem that ...