Chants sacrés d'Arménie- Concert dans le cadre du Festival Voix des Suds

Sacred Songs of ArmeniaConcert as part of the Voix des Suds FestivalKERAM, Artistic Director Serge Eurdekian Created in 1980 within the Centre for the Teaching and Dissemination of Armenian Culture (CEDCA – TIVOLI) in Marseille, Keram is an Armenian traditional music ensemble. Made up of 17 musicians and 9 singers, KERAM is one of the largest Armenian musical ensembles outside Armenia. Keram’s repertoire consists of songs and music that showcase the breadth of Armenian music. It includes sacred and popular songs, as well as songs by ashoughs, Armenian troubadours whose tradition spans from the 17th century to the present day. Among the most famous are Sayat Nova, Chirin, Cheram, Achod and Djivani. The ensemble also presents a broad repertoire of folk dances, peasant songs, wedding songs... It includes numerous pieces composed or transcribed by Father Komitas, the great Armenian musicologist of the early 20th century. Contemporary composers who have enriched the Armenian repertoire with melodies and songs that have since become “standards” are also given considerable attention. Armenian instruments belong to all the known families (strings, winds and percussion). Keram offers the chance to discover a great variety of these instruments, including the dehol (two-headed drum), dap (single-headed frame drum), duduk (oboe with a soft, captivating sound), shevi (shepherd’s flute), zurna (oboe with a powerful, nasal sound), kamantcha (fiddle with a spherical body), kamani (a type of viola), pampir (a type of cello), târ (long-necked lute), kanone (plucked-string zither) and santour (struck-string zither).