Concert in Miami to Commemorate Armenian Genocide, Culture After 100 Years

(Combined Sources) – On Saturday, November 7, at 7:00 PM, the Hye Doun commemorative concert to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will take place in Miami Beach, Florida, reported FLArmenians.com. Hye Doun is a collaboration of Arts at St. Johns and Harmonic Motion. Through music, dance, song, and narrative, the World War I Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkish Empire will be illuminated.

Local South Florida Armenian Americans, musician Joe Zeytoonian and author/journalist Douglas Kalajian, will share their experiences of having family members who were killed or simply disappeared during this period when an estimated 800,000 to 1.5 million men, women, and children died.

The concert includes traditional Armenian folk and folk-inspired melodies and dance, with a cultural commentary provided by FLArmenians.com contributor Douglas Kalajian, author of “Stories My Father Never Finished Telling Me.”

“When musicians play these songs, they’re preserving this culture. It’s a gift not only to me, but to the whole world,” Kalajian told the Miami Herald.

According to the Herald, “Zeytoonian also was deeply impacted by the genocide; both sides of his family were devastated. His grandfather was killed when his grandmother was eight months pregnant with his father. He decided to convey the loss his family felt through his music.”

“Armenian music has a particular nostalgia in its sound. My sound is a combination of that and the Anatolian roots of my parents who were driven from their homes in Maras, Turkey,” Zeytoonian said.

Performers include Myriam Eli (percussion and dance), Alique Mazmanian (vocals), Reza Filsoofi (setar and percussion) and Joe Zeytoonian (oud, percussion, and vocals).

The Hye Doun concert is part of Arts at St. Johns 2015-2016 season theme “Places We Call Home.” Nearly 75% of the residents in Miami-Dade County have come from other places. With physical homes in South Florida, many are emotionally bound to other cities, states or countries. Because of socio-political circumstances, some homes exist only in heartfelt memory.