As we approach our second year presenting the Sound Archive here at the Armenian Museum of America, we are reflecting back on all of the monthly gems of early 20th century Armenian music. For half a century now, the Museum’s collection of 78 rpm records has grown, thanks to generous donors who have been entrusting us with their personal collections. The diverse histories, taste, and experience of those donors is reflected in the recordings found in the collection, providing a rich pool of music to share and a wide range of stories through which we can explore Armenian culture and music.

This year we touched on some true stars of the stage featuring men and women whose creative output were remarkable. Chief among them was Zabelle Panosian, whose life and work was the subject of the book and CD, Zabelle Panosian: I am Servant of Your Voice, published this year by Canary Records and featuring two recordings from the Museum’s collection.

We also told the stories of two other exceptional sopranos in the Armenian classical tradition, Masha Sourabian and Nevart Dzeron. In addition to the elegant music of these women as well as the renowned Torcom Bezazian, we dug into the folk music from the Kharpert Region. The performers of this style represented both East and West Coast communities, with the father and son duo of Stepan and Haigaz Simonian (based in Massachusetts), and the legendary Fresno-based clarinetist Mesrob Takajian.

Speaking of legendary clarinetists, we also kicked off a series focused on the exciting Armenian-American music of the Post-War era with a feature on Souren Baronian and the Nor-Ikes Ensemble. A second post in this series presented the classic dance music of Philadelphia's Vosbikian Band. While all the music mentioned so far was recorded and produced in America, we also took a look at recordings made abroad, including several records made in Soviet Armenia, as well as recordings made in Constantinople circa 1910 (but reissued in the 1940s by Hrand Markar Tashjian in New York City.) 

We hope you enjoy the selection of recordings from this year's posts that are highlighted here and we encourage you to take a look back at the stories which accompanied them. We are excited to bring you more in 2023; expect to hear more from your favorite originators of Kef music, as well as a deeper dive into the collection of Soviet Armenian recordings. While we’ll continue to tell the stories of musicians from the American Armenian diasporas, we’ll also be highlighting the work of Armenian communities elsewhere in the globe from communities as far as France, and South America.

A special thanks to the SJS Charitable Trust for their generous support of our work to digitize and share our collection of 78 rpm records.

Also, a special thanks to Jesse Kenas Collins who has been instrumental in the digitization of our collection of 78 rpm records. Harry Kezelian and Harout Arakelian’s contributions of research and consultation have been critical to assembling the writings presented over the past two years.