Where politicians fail

ArmeniaNow.com reports on the successes being met by some Armenian artists and musicians in Turkey. The duduk maestro Djivan Gasparyan was apparently invited to Turkey during Soviet times, but only on the condition he change his surname. Naturally he declined. He finally went there in 2000.

"My performance was a part of Vollenweider's concert program and before announcing the names of artists audience didn't know who performed except Vollenweider at the concert. When my name was announced silence fell in the concert hall for a moment and suddenly the audience burst into applause," says Gasparyan, still excited by the moment.

ArmeniaNow.com makes the point that these artists are succeeding where politicians are failing. That's because they are not engaging in politics. If they tried to talk about the political issues the mood would change very quickly.
Last year Gasparyan played in London along with Azeri musician Alim Qasimov, although there was no public hand-shaking or embracing.

Posted by Matt on July 26, 2004 | TrackBack | Email to a friend