Tweet
PAST MEETS FUTURE IN YEREVAN
UK Government News
July 11, 2011 Monday 9:56 AM EST
LONDON, July 11 -- Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued the
following blog:
It's not often that Buckingham Palace echoes to the sound of a
160-strong choir singing Armenian music. But a concert on 15 June
included the wonderful Bach Choir performing two pieces of religious
music, 'Surb, Surb' and 'Hayr Mer', as well as the great violinist
Maxim Vengerov playing a piece by the great Armenian composer Komitas
for the first time in his career.
The occasion was a dinner and concert hosted by the Prince of Wales
to raise funds for two charities: the "Yerevan My Love" project in
Armenia and the Dumfries House project Prince Charles has led in
Scotland. It followed a similar event at Windsor Castle last year. In
both cases the initiator was Armenia's first Ambassador to the UK,
and former Prime Minister, Armen Sarkissian.
I've been delighted to attend the events and support this project. It
seems to me to manage an important balancing act, seeking to preserve
what is left of Yerevan's architectural heritage - all too little,
sadly - and to support the local community, using the reconstructed
buildings to provide important social services to vulnerable parts
of the community.
Last Friday, 1 July, Armen Sarkissian and Yerevan Mayor Karen
Karapetian updated local media on progress on the project. Plans are
ready for construction of the first phase to begin now, and planning
is in hand for a second phase in downtown Yerevan. The first stage
will see three historic buildings reconstructed around the church of St
Hovhannes in the Kond district. They'll house centres for children with
special needs, vulnerable famiies, and a community centre for the area.
Although it's still early days for phase 2, they have their eye on
sites in the downtown area, where new buildings threaten to overwhelm
what does still remain of the older city. One building which has
already been restored to great effect in the area is the ironically
named "Villa Delenda", restored by Antonio Montalto, who has also
put huge personal efforts into restoring buildings in the historic
nineteenth century part of Armenia's second city, Gyumri. I hope
the project can ensure the area is developed more sensitively and
sustainably than some parts of the city.
These projects take time and huge efforts but I'm delighted that there
is active British involvement, not least through the Prince of Wales,
in helping save the past and build for the future in Yerevan.
From: A. Papazian
UK Government News
July 11, 2011 Monday 9:56 AM EST
LONDON, July 11 -- Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued the
following blog:
It's not often that Buckingham Palace echoes to the sound of a
160-strong choir singing Armenian music. But a concert on 15 June
included the wonderful Bach Choir performing two pieces of religious
music, 'Surb, Surb' and 'Hayr Mer', as well as the great violinist
Maxim Vengerov playing a piece by the great Armenian composer Komitas
for the first time in his career.
The occasion was a dinner and concert hosted by the Prince of Wales
to raise funds for two charities: the "Yerevan My Love" project in
Armenia and the Dumfries House project Prince Charles has led in
Scotland. It followed a similar event at Windsor Castle last year. In
both cases the initiator was Armenia's first Ambassador to the UK,
and former Prime Minister, Armen Sarkissian.
I've been delighted to attend the events and support this project. It
seems to me to manage an important balancing act, seeking to preserve
what is left of Yerevan's architectural heritage - all too little,
sadly - and to support the local community, using the reconstructed
buildings to provide important social services to vulnerable parts
of the community.
Last Friday, 1 July, Armen Sarkissian and Yerevan Mayor Karen
Karapetian updated local media on progress on the project. Plans are
ready for construction of the first phase to begin now, and planning
is in hand for a second phase in downtown Yerevan. The first stage
will see three historic buildings reconstructed around the church of St
Hovhannes in the Kond district. They'll house centres for children with
special needs, vulnerable famiies, and a community centre for the area.
Although it's still early days for phase 2, they have their eye on
sites in the downtown area, where new buildings threaten to overwhelm
what does still remain of the older city. One building which has
already been restored to great effect in the area is the ironically
named "Villa Delenda", restored by Antonio Montalto, who has also
put huge personal efforts into restoring buildings in the historic
nineteenth century part of Armenia's second city, Gyumri. I hope
the project can ensure the area is developed more sensitively and
sustainably than some parts of the city.
These projects take time and huge efforts but I'm delighted that there
is active British involvement, not least through the Prince of Wales,
in helping save the past and build for the future in Yerevan.
From: A. Papazian