On August 5, at the initiative of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, the concert "Evening of Armenian music" by Armenian pianists from the Diaspora Mikael Ayrapetyan (Russia) and Raffi Petrosyan (Canada) was held in the concert hall "Arno Babadjanyan", attended by Deputy Minister of Diaspora Vahagn Melikyan. Canadian Armenian pianist Raffi Petrosyan performed well-known and favorite classical and folk Armenian musical works of Komitas, Aram Khachatryan, Edgar Hovhannisyan, Alan Hovhannes and Alexander Aleksanyan.

 

Constantinople of Armenian descent, Raffi bedrosyan on a speciality the engineer-Builder and involved in charity work, as well as implementing programs to educate Islamized Armenians from their homeland, Armenian culture. The profits from numerous concerts in North America and the sale of records, he provided for the implementation of programs for the construction of schools, roads and water pipelines in Armenia and Artsakh, taking personal part as a civil engineer. In recent years, R. Petrosyan participated in the program of restoration of the Diarbekir Church of St. Kirakos, made other initiatives. In 2014, he organized the arrival to Armenia of 50 hidden Armenians from Diarbekir and their participation in the program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora "Ari Tun" to help them regain their language, culture, and return to their national roots. In 2015, with the same mission Raffi Petrosyan came to Armenia and organized participation in the program of 87 Islamized Armenians.

 

Mikael Ayrapetyan performed works by Aram Khachaturian, Arno Babadjanian, Edward Baghdasarian, Robert Amirkhanian and Edward Abrahamian. Mikael Ayrapetyan graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, followed by postgraduate studies. He performed concerts on European, Asian and American stages, spreading Armenian classical music, including works of Armenian composers unknown to the world. M. Ayrapetyan is also the founder and chief producer of the project Secrets of Armenia, within the framework of which numerous concerts are held in the best concert halls of the world.

 

An evening of Armenian classical music, organized by the Armenian youth Congress of Russia and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, was organized in the great hall of the Moscow Conservatory. It was organized with the assistance of the Ministry of culture of the Russian Federation and the Department of culture of Moscow. Welcoming Armenian artists from the Diaspora, Deputy Minister Vahagn Melikyan expressed gratitude on behalf of Minister Hranush Hakobyan and the Ministry, noting the importance of performing a joint concert program at home. In particular, he said: "You manage to spread Armenian music in the world and introduce foreign viewers to our sadness and joy, our tears and the spirit of our struggle. I would like you to perform such concerts in Musha and Sasun, proving once again that our people cannot be brought to their knees."

 

The Deputy Minister presented Armenian pianists from the Diaspora with diplomas of the RA Ministry of Diaspora: Mikael Ayrapetyan for his contribution to the development of Armenia-Diaspora cultural cooperation, and Raffi Petrosyan for promoting the preservation of the Armenian identity, the development and dissemination of Armenian culture, and the strengthening of Armenia-Diaspora ties.