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  David Safrazian Staff Writer “Each time we sing a song, though it has been sung before, it is new,” said Aram Kerovpyan. Armenian church music was nearly completely torn away from its homeland since the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Musicologists Aram and Virginia Kerovpyan visited Fresno State on Wednesday, May 1, to present a new film, Singing in Exile, ...

Armen Sahag Kouymjian  (1936 Tulcea, Romania – 2019 Pasadena)   Armen Kouymjian was the third and last child of Zabelle Calusdian Kouymjian and Toros Kouymjian. He was born an American citizen while his father, mother and older brother Dickran were visiting his father’s parents in Romania where they had fled after the Kemalist’s burning of Izmir (Smyrna) in 1922. His ...

Christine Pambukyan Staff Writer Combining musical energy and beautiful rhythms, the Cadence Ensemble performed in the Fresno State Concert Hall on Friday, April 26, as part of their celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Armenia’s noted composer Komitas Vardapet. The Cadence Ensemble performance was part of the World Music Series of the Keyboard Concert Series and was ...

Andrew Hagopian Editor From Tom Bradley International Airport in Los Angeles to Yerevan, Armenia, a group of 14 Armenian Studies Program students embarked on a two-week trip touring the various regions of modern day Armenia. The group was led by Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian and Prof. Sergio La Porta. The trip marked the ninth group of students since 1988 that ...

Seated, left, Clara Bousian Bedrosian, with Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian. Standing, left, Kenneth Bedrosian and Moon-Ja Yunouye. Mrs. Bedrosian is a 1958 graduate of Fresno State. Staff Report The Armenian Studies Program is pleased to announce that a $50,000 endowment has been established at Fresno State through a generous donation from Clara Bousian Bedrosian of Fowler, California.  The Clara Bousian ...

Staff Report The Armenian Studies Program announces the estab-lishment of the Simon D. and Haiganoosh Peterson Family Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund at Fresno State. The $25,000 endowment will support annual scholarships to be awarded to students enrolled in Armenian Studies Program courses at Fresno State. The Scholarship Fund was established in loving memory of Simon, Haiganoosh, Helen, Virginia, Paul, and ...

Andrew Hagopian Editor ASO 2019-2020 Executives, left to right: Matthew Mugrdechian, Vice-President; Suzanna Ekmekchyan, President; Andrew Hagopian, Public Affairs; Ariana Garabedian, Treasurer; and Dustin Vartanian, Secretary. Photo: Barlow Der Mugrdechian To kick off the Fall Semester, the Armenian Students Organization (ASO) at Fresno State held its first General Meeting of the semester on Tuesday, September 10, 2019. Five new student ...

Dr. Sergio La Porta. Photo: ASP Archive   Claire Kasaian Staff Writer Haig & Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies, Dr. Sergio La Porta has accepted a new position, effective August 19, 2019, as Interim Dean of the College of Arts of Humanities for the 2019-2020 academic year.  When asked how he feels about this new position, Dr. La Porta ...

Dustin Vartanian Staff Writer “The Armenian Studies Program is not only an educational center but it is a very strong center that generates Armenian culture, that drives Armenian culture, and that keeps the Armenian community Armenian, here in the San Joaquin Valley and much beyond,” said H.E. Dr. Armen Baibourtian, Consul General of the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Baibourtian was ...

Andrew Hagopian Staff Writer On Saturday, March 30, the Knights of Vartan, Yeprad Lodge and the Daughters of Vartan, Alidz Chapter, held their “Man and Woman of the Year Banquet” honoring Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State and KSEE 24 News Anchor Stefani Booroojian. More than 200 community guests, including Fresno State ...