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Vakhtang Harutyunyan
[edit]Vakhtang Harutyunyan is a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker, painter and thinker. He is a significant figure in bard genre in Armenia. Bulat Okudzhava, the prominent Russian bard and master of author song, had a tremendous influence on Vakhtang’s life. Vakhtang Harutyunyan’s lyrics incorporate a variety of social, philosophical and literary inspirations. Even though political opinion plays an important role in bard music, Vakhtang never sings about it, he concentrates on moralities and integrity of social and individual values.
“I salute all kinds of freedoms but liberal freedoms have a higher value to me”
Vakhtang Harutyunyan is not just a poet; he is a great thinker and philosopher.
“My songs are a reflection of today’s reality. I sing about all that moves me now”, – the songwriter cities.
He has a unique approach in presenting his Word in his songs and poems. He uses the method of rational argument in reasoning reality, existence, and values: His word is not a monologue but rather a dialogue between him and himself or others and by using dialectical method, the method of thought exchange, he attempts to establish the truth.
“My spiritual life and my personal life are so intimate to me that I prefer to keep them private”
Gravity holds Vakhtang tight to the ground and the sky pulls him upward. To keep in balance, he skydives and when he is in between the sky and the earth, nothing else matters.
Vakhtang Harutyunyan is a man of many talents but what makes him original is his simplicity, humility, and his desire to stay a newborn in his heart and mind.
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Vakhtang, the second of three children, was born in Kajaran, Armenia on February 29, 1972, to Ludwig and Larisa Harutyunyan. He moved to Yerevan at the age of ten. As a child he was very energetic and eye-catching. He was considered to be a troublemaker in school and was expelled three times from three different schools. Nevertheless, at a young age, Vakhtang exhibited a superior aptitude for music and poetry as well as a desire to self-express through the guitar. He started his professional classical guitar education in 1989 followed and later mastered flamenco music over four years with flamenco guitarist Hamlet Harutyunyan.
Vakhtang plays a six string acoustic guitar tuned to E B G D A E. Most of his songs are in the minor key. Because of his flamenco foundation, his finger technique is common to classical guitar style; individual strings plucked with the fingernails, rarely fingertips and never with a pick.
Vakhtang Harutyunyan’s first stage performance was in 1992 at the House of Architects in Yerevan. At that time, Ararat Bobikyan, a singer-songwriter and an architect was organizing a series of author songs’ concerts called “Concert at Candlelight” and Vakhtang attended one of the concerts. Ararat had already heard of the young artist’s talent through word-of-mouth and when he learnt that Vakhtang was in the audience, invited the young talent to the stage. Vakhtang’s first performance was quite impressive and successful. He managed to create a very warm and pleasant atmosphere. Many singers and other artists during the concert expressed their interest in getting to know the young talent. At that time, Vakhtang met Areg Nazaryan, another young songwriter and together they began organizing concerts for students at Yerevan State University, Yerevan State Foreign Language Institute and Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute. Vakhtang was quickly becoming well-liked and he continued his concerts for a greater audience, holding his concerts in the halls like the Theatre of Chamber Music, State Pantomime Theatre in Yerevan, as well as in other cities and regions of Armenia.
Vakhtang continued writing songs during his military service for the Special Forces of the Republic of Armenia from 1994 to 1995.
It was in the army that he discovered his passion for painting as well. He began graphic drawing using pencil and charcoal. Upon his return from the army, Vakhtang began to paint with oil.
“When I am not able to express my feelings and thoughts through my songs, I convey them onto canvas and express myself through colors and brush”
Vakhtang has numerous paintings and drawings. Just like in his songs, in paintings he attempts to convey the visual reality using his own interpretation and impression of a moment. The goal of his brush is not simply to reproduce the appearance of the subject or scenery, but to capture its soul. His bright colours give liveliness to his paintings and his brush strokes create charisma. He uses different styles of painting according to the state of his inspirations. They include impressionism, and abstract expressionism. For example, his works “Indulgence of the Spirit” and “War of Worlds” are bright examples of abstract expressionism on which his mind was set – “what was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event.” In his “Night” or “Love”, he portrayed intense color vibration that created a visual affect of impressionism.
“The dreams have ten percent of beauty in them and ninety percent of inaction. Being in the ten percent of beauty, one should be careful not to cross the border into the ninety percent of inaction.
I know what I want. I know what I need. I make decisions. I act.”
“How do we accentuate today’s values?I wanted to change something not by criticizing but by presenting our roots, hoping to open the eyes of human souls and deliver them to beauty, light and eternity. “
In 1998, Vakhtang Harutyunyan produced the “Armenian Temples” documentary film series. Each of the fifteen films reveals a unique story of a temple’s life, highlighting the values of Christian heritage and recalling the history of our ancestors. In his work, Vakhtang Harutyunyan draws great attention to the society for the preservation of national treasures. The films received many awards and recognitions from different International Festivals in Europe, including the awards at the Yalta Film Festival, Crimea for the “Best Screenplay” and the “Best Audio Arrangement” etc.
“I salute all kinds of freedoms but liberal freedoms have a higher value to me”
Vakhtang Harutyunyan is not just a poet; he is a great thinker and philosopher.
He has a unique approach in presenting his Word in his songs and poems. He uses the method of rational argument in reasoning reality, existence, and values: His word is not a monologue but rather a dialogue between him and himself or others and by using dialectical method, the method of thought exchange, he attempts to establish the truth.
“My spiritual life and my personal life are so intimate to me that I prefer to keep them private”
In June of 1998 Vakhtang Harutyunyan founded Meteo-TV, the first and the only broadcasting weather forecast TV station in Armenia. Meteo-TV airs daily on the TV and Radio channels. Simultaneously, the company broadcasts other programs such as “Backstage” - a series of shows about the lives of artistic people of our times, informative – analytical program “Alliance” and series of shows “Tuning to Children”.
“ I wanted to be able to provide a solid means of earnings but at the same time to be as close to creative world as possible”.
Vakhtang Harutyunyan established “M-Studio Recordings” studio in 2004, where he continues to record and arrange high quality music and produces music videos, commercials and documentaries.
“if there is an opportunity to put a stone over a stone in order to build, let us do it.”
In 2008, Vakhtang Harutunyan founded the Bard Club, a place where the bards were able to offer a “sincere word” to the audience. The idea of creating the “Bard Club” was born the day when together with Eduard Zorikyan, Vakhtang organized a concert dedicated to Rafael Papayan who translated most of Bulat Okudzhava’s songs into Armenian. The concert lasted over six hours. It was exactly that lengthy concert that attested the crucial need for intellectual music, where the true values are presented, kept and protected by the bards – the mirrors of society.
Since then, 2008 to nowadays the club gathers every Friday and holds its concerts.
A year later, in 2009, Vakhtang published Author Song Collection, Volume 1 and in 2012 Author Song Collection, Volume 2 where he presents the bards of Armenia, their songs, the string chords and the lyrics along with CD records.
In 2000, Vakhtang married Roza Karapetyan and they have two children: Mane, born on June 24th, 2001 and Michael born on January 16th, 2009.
| Discography | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | the first album Tsnorq |
| 2000 | the second album Veradardz |
| 2001 | joint album Zruyts with the bards Areg Nazaryan, Tatevik Ahamiryan, Armine Hayrapetyan |
| 2005 | the third album Es u Es |
| 2009 | Author Song Collection Volume 1 |
| 2011 | the fourth album in Russian Ya Jivu Kak Jivu |
| 2012 | Author Song Collection Volume 2 |
| 2012 | the fifth album Gisher e Gisher |
| Timeline | |
|---|---|
| 1972 | Born on February 29, 1972 in Kajaran, Armenia |
| 1977 | Starts secondary education |
| 1984 | Moves to Yerevan, Armenia |
| 1989 | Enters Yerevan State Pedagogical University |
| 1989 | Starts classical guitar education |
| 1991 | Masters flamenco guitar from instructor Hamlet Harutunyan within four years |
| 1992 | Performs first time on the stage at the House of Architects in Yerevan, Armenia |
| 1994 | Graduates from University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Technologies |
| 1994 | Begins Military Service for Special Forces 1041 of Republic of Armenia |
| 1995 | Starts painting |
| 1995 | Becomes analytical programing consultant for Armenian National Television |
| 1996 | Begins teaching private guitar lessons |
| 1997 | Starts three year vocal education with Maestro Robert Baburyan |
| 1998 | Releases first album Tsnorq |
| 1998 | Founds and becomes CEO of Meteo-TV |
| 2000 | Marries Roza Karapetyan |
| 2000 | Starts producing the “Armenian Temples” documentary film series |
| 2000 | Releases second album Veradardz |
| 2001 | Releases joint album Zruyts with the bards Areg Nazaryan, Tatevik Ahamiryan, Armine Hayrapetyan |
| 2001 | His daughter Mane is born |
| 2004 | Founds M-Studio Recordings |
| 2005 | Releases third album Es u Es |
| 2008 | Founds the Bard Club |
| From 2008 to present | Holds weekly concerts |
| 2009 | His son Michael is born |
| 2009 | Records and Publishes Author Song Collection Volume 1 |
| 2011 | Releases the fourth album in Russian Ya Jivu Kak Jivu |
| 2012 | Records and publishes Author Song Collection Volume 2 |
| 2012 | Releases the fifth album Gishere Gisher |