The Komitas Series

The Mission

Komitas Vardapet is considered by many to be the godfather of Armenian Classical Music.  Born in the Ottoman Empire, he was selected by the Armenian church in Etchmiadzin, due to his beautiful singing voice, to train as a musician in Berlin.  This western training separated Komitas many other Armenian ethnomusicologists at the time who were also working in an effort to preserve the Armenian musical tradition.  Due to his experiences during the Armenian Genocide, Komitas spent the final of his life in an insane asylum, ending his work.  However, his views on the “true” identity of Armenian music are incredibly influential amongst Armenian musicians today; both his ethnographic work and his compositions are lasting pillars of Armenian culture.

Just as Komitas sought to bring classical music to Armenia, The Komitas Series seeks to bring Armenian classical music to the world.  As much of Armenia's classical music can be difficult to find, translate, and transliterate for non-Armenian speakers, The Komitas Series offers performance editions of Armenian classical music that are more eassily accessible for all. The text in each score comes transliterated into the International Phonetic Alphabet so that the music can be performed by ensembles of all backgrounds.  My hope is that by making Armenian sheet music more accessible, we can work together to spread the beauty of the Armenian classical tradition.

– Vasken Ohanian