Mr. Karo Chalikian

Since 1970 Mr. Karo Chalikian, an architect by profession, has been studying the Armenian musical legacy kept at the Matenadaran. He has deciphered the khaz notography, restored spiritual music pieces existing in oral form, qualified them, and defined their authorship, reestablishing the theoretical system of Armenian music. Mr. Chalikian's work of 25 years has produced major results and opened new perspectives and possibilities for deciphering ancient Armenian music originals. In the Matenadaran archives Karo Chalikian found records of thousands of spiritual songs by Armenian composers of the fifth to fifteenth century.

In order to promote the richest legacy and to present Armenian spiritual song masterpieces, Mr. Chalikian founded in 1975 "Avetis" Choir that quietly grew in popularity due to its unique repertoire and a brilliant interpretative manner. He also headed the St. Geghard Monastery Choir and "Shnorali" String Quartet.

Mr. Chalikian's arrangements of the best musicians of the country got highest appraisals and awards at various international contests. Besides doing theoretical research and practical work, Karo Chalikian travelled throughout Armenia for more than 10 years (1970-1980) and collected about 8,000 songs enriching the treasury of Armenian musical folklore.

In 1992 Mr. Chalikian founded "Nerses Shnorali" Ancient Armenian Music Choir and became its artistic director. There are 13 female and nine male singers in the choir; they are pianists, violinists, and musicologists by their original profession. Evangelical figures from Armenia medieval inspired Karo Chalikian to make sketches for the singers' costumes. They use fabrics of the eighteenth to nineteenth century collected by Mr. Chalikian during his numerous folklore expeditions and include brocade, silk, velvet, and pileless rug cloth. The Choir's repertoire embraces musical compositions by more than 40 Armenian authors, as well as folklore pieces.  The main aim of modern national culture is a replenishment of the inexhaustible treasury of the Armenian folklore music, which undoubtedly will make its worthy contribution to the golden fund of world culture.