2000_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 2000

              4
December 2000
Catholicos Aram I Meets with Students and Faculty at Fresno State
Left to Right: Barlow Der Mugrdechian, ASP Director Dr.
Dickran Kouymjian, His Holiness Aram I, Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirosian. photo courtesy of Randy Vaughn-Dotta
CATHOLICOS, Cont. from
Page 1
that people must become responsible consumers and that the
transnational corporations and their
emphasis on production are evil by
playing a negative and destructive
role.
"Any ecological, economic or
social analysis or prescription will,
fall short unless they are substantiated by an ethical perspective," the
Catholicos said.
However, His Holiness said
explicitly that he did not have the
detailed solutions to solving the
problem and that he was focusing
on clearly describing the root causes
ofthe ecological crisis to work from.
Simply stated, His Holiness
said, "This is our house, we have to
keep it clean."
After the speech, His Holiness
along with Fresno State students
and special guests went across campus to the Residence Dining Hall
for a buffet luncheon.
At the luncheon His Holiness
spoke to a group of more than 100,
mostly students, including nearly
all fifty members ofthe Smittcamp
Honors College. His topic was the
World Council of Churches and his
duties as Moderator of the Central
and Executive Committees of the
Council.
The World Council of
Churches (WCC) is an international
organization created in 1946 that is
currently made up of 382 churchesx
from different regions around the
world.   The WCC works to help
individual churches deal with issues such as violence, church-society relationship, poverty, racism,
human rights, as well as a host of
other pressing issues. The WCC is
headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
His Holiness Aram I was
elected Moderator, the highest position of the World Council of
Churches, in 1991 and reelected
for an unprecedented second term
in 1998.
The entire body of the WCC
meets once every seven to eight
years while the Central Committee
meets once a year and the Executive Committee meets twice a year.
At the end of the luncheon,
students asked the Catholicos questions about the differences between
the Roman Catholic church and
other Christian churches, bioethics
in relation to generating enough
food for the world's population,
the relationship between religion
and politics, and the big question,
church unity.
His Holiness' response to the
question of unity in the Armenian
church was, "We cannot speak
about two Armenian churches, we
are one church and within one family you may have some difficulties,
sensitivities, but we all belong to
one family."
"We have one church and our
church is united," he said.
The audience applauded in
agreement with the Catholicos'
answer.
When asked by Dr. Kouymj ian
His Holiness is the author of
20 books ranging in topic from
medieval Armenian theology to the
world ecumenical movement.
The Catholicos' visit to Fresno
State was also a reunion of teacher
and student. Dr. Kouymjian, Haig
and Isabel Berberian Chair of Armenian Studies, was one of Aram
I' s professors at the American Uni-
His Holiness with students Sevag Tateosian, left and Armen
'     '    " Photo courtesy of Randy Vaughn-Dotta
Catholicos Aram I addressing the luncheon audience.
Photo courtesy of Randy Vaughn-Dotta
if he would come back to speak on
campus again, His Holiness said,
"I promise you when I come back
to the United Sates, I will come and
see you again."
In 1995, His Holiness Aram I
was elected Catholicos ofthe Great
House of Cilicia, located in
Antelias, Lebanon.
The Catholicos studied at the
Theological Seminary of the
Cilician Catholicosate in Antelias
then went on to the Near East School
of Theology and the American
University of Beirut as well as the
Ecumenical Institute in Geneva. He
then completed his Ph.D. in philosophy and systematic theology at
Fordham University in New York.
versity of Beirut, in Lebanon, in the
1970s.
His Holiness was in California
to preside over the "Armenian
Cilicia" conference at UCLA on
October 20 and 21. The conference
was part ofthe UCLA International
Conference Series on Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces, organized by Dr. Richard Hovannisian
and sponsored by the Armenian
Educational Foundation Chair in
Modern history at UCLA. He then
traveled to Fresno to participate in
the festivities surrounding the 100th
anniversary ofthe founding of Holy
Trinity Armenian Apostolic
Church.
Orpheus Premieres Gomidas Vartabed Suite in Opening 2000 Concert
By Arpik Paraghamian
Staff Writer
The Fresno State Orpheus
concert series entered its
22nd Season Saturday Oct.
14,2000 with performances of Armenian and European compositions
rendered by composers Alan Brett,
Pierick Houdy, and Maurice Ravel.
The first piece was the world
premiere of Brett's, The Fruit, to be
Tasted, Was Torn from the Tree, a
suite based on songs by Armenian
composer and ethnomusicologist,
Gomidas Vartabed. Angele and
Prof. Dickran Kouymjian commissioned the work.
Gomidas was a celibate priest
who went on to become a doctor of
theology in the late 19th century. He
survived the Armenian Genocide
of 1915, but its trauma caused him
to suffer in a mental hospital in
Paris until his death in 1935.
As Orpheus Artistic Director
Jack Former stated in his program
notes, Brett's title is "meant to express not only the disruption and
pain of exile, but also the necessity
of experiences in the development
of all men."
Brett's musical translation fea
tured Teresa Beaman on flute, Judy
Robinson on cello, and Laura Porter on harp. Displaying their exceptional musical talent, the three
women helped acquaint the audience with Armenian folk tunes
such as, Gakavi yerk (Song of the
Partridge) and Hoy, Nazan im (Oh,
My Nazan).
Porter led the group of three
charismatically, plucking her harp
at the start of almost every piece to
gain everyone's full attention before proceeding.
Porter then had the chance to
shine on her own, performing
Houdy's, Sonatepourharpe. She
and her elegant instrument devoted
a sense of gracefulness to the rest
of the evening.
Moving on to Brett's,
Divertimento for String Quartet,
Robinson on cello, joined John
Morrice and David Margetts on
violin and Claudia Shiuh on viola.
The quartet played in sync with
one another, picking up for
pizzicatos and returning with a vengeance during the more aggressive
parts of the composition.
The quartet complemented each
other in all four parts of
Divertimento, nodding and mak-
Judy Robinson, left and Laura Porter.
Photo by Diko Chekian
ing eye contact to let one another
know they were ready.
After the intermission, Beaman
returned to the stage with her flute
to perform a short solo piece, Syrinx by Claude Deboussy, followed
by Porter and her intimidating harp
whose beautifully crafted features
and irreplaceable sound stole the
show in Gabriel Faure's Sicilienne
from Pelleas and Melisende.
This segment replaced Maurice
Del age's Four Hindu Poems due to
soprano Phyllis Perry Former's lar
yngitis.
The last piece, Introduction and
Allegro, by Maurice Ravel incorporated all the previous musicians
adding Professor Miles Ishigaki on
clarinet and Jack Former conducting.
The seven players captured the
audience with harmonious sets,
breaking every now and then for a
harp or flute solo. Porter seemed to
lead the rest of the group with her
confidence in playing the harp; caressing its many strings in a call
made the other six musicians reply
promptly.
The audience was left uplifted
by the final piece whose precise-
ness and clarity must have required
countless hours of practice.
Orpheus will continue with its
enriching concerts next semester
with East meets East, when Eastern European works will collide
with Middle Eastern folk music.
This upcoming program will feature The James Karagozian Middle
Eastern Ensemble. The show will
be on Feb. 3, 2001 at 8 p.m. in the
Wahlberg Recital Hall. Admission
is free.