The Komitas Series

"...to spread Armenian classical music to the world."

The Mission

Komitas Vardapet is widely considered to be the godfather of Armenian Classical Music. Though born in the Ottoman Empire, he trained as a musician in Berlin. Following his studies, he worked extensively to document the intricacies of Armenian folk music. The combination of his studies of Armenian folk music and his western-classical training allowed him to create a truly Armenian classical style in his own compositions and arrangements. Like no composer before him, he captured the essence and beauty of Armenian folk culture and refined them into exquisite compositions for the concert hall.

Just as Komitas brought classical music to Armenia, VAOMusik's Komitas Series seeks to spread Armenian classical music to the world. Sheet music by Komitas and other Armenian Classical composers is often difficult to find and transliterate properly, even as an Armenian speaker.  Just learning the unique characters of the Armenian alphabet and their numerous dialectical pronunciations creates a high barrier of entry to anyone interested in Armenian music.

The Komitas Series works to eliminate this barrier by providing performance editions of Armenian choral and vocal works.  Each score comes transliterated from the historically accurate dialect with the International Phonetic Alphabet so that the music can be performed by any ensemble. 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