Ilda is a singer with a story: “In Turkey, my parents were not able to speak Armenian” – one of the consequences of the 1915 genocide, when 1,5 million Armenians were killed. Those who survived the ordeal suffered oppression during the decades which followed. “As a result, a substantial part of our cultural heritage is now lost.”

The Armenian culture is an important part of Ilda’s identity. Her mission is to share the richness and power of Armenian music with her audience. “This music moves me deeply. It is so much part of me that it offers support not only when I feel sad, but also when I am happy.”

Ilda has lived in Amsterdam since the early 1990s. “I feel at home in Amsterdam. This city has had a small Armenian community since the 17th century, and after World War II their numbers have only increased. That has stimulated me to share my musical identity with other people.”

Inspiration

Ilda is a singer with a story: “In Turkey, my parents were not able to speak Armenian” – one of the consequences of the 1915 genocide, when 1,5 million Armenians were killed. Those who survived the ordeal suffered oppression during the decades which followed. “As a result, a substantial part of our cultural heritage is now lost.”

The Armenian culture is an important part of Ilda’s identity. Her mission is to share the richness and power of Armenian music with her audience. “This music moves me deeply. It is so much part of me that it offers support not only when I feel sad, but also when I am happy.”

Ilda has lived in Amsterdam since the early 1990s. “I feel at home in Amsterdam. This city has had a small Armenian community since the 17th century, and after World War II their numbers have only increased. That has stimulated me to share my musical identity with other people.”

Musique

agenda

recent

My first cd Izler/Hedker/Traces

 Izler / Hedker / Traces IZLER / HEDKER / TRACES  Ilda Simonian  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMnoOlJi5_M

Order by mail in Europe: info@simonian.nl

http://kalan.com/scripts/album/dispalbum.asp?id=4239

Here, in the country of my birth, my notebook full of song lyrics did not include a single song in my native Armenian until I was ten years old. Up to that point, I’d never heard a song in Armenian, because my mother and father were the children of one of the largest tragedies in history. For this reason, they did not know a single song in Armenian; not even our lullabies.

A cassette of Armenian music that came from abroad changed my world. I was amazed, and couldn’t hold back my tears of joy. Up to then I had heard no Armenian melody other than church hymns. I was amazed, because I was hearing an Armenian song for the first time. I was moved, and I cried; because my joy was more than my heart could contain. That joyful but also sad shock, experienced at that tender age, never left my mind. From that moment on, Armenian music became a part of my life.

When I was twelve, a chorus came from Istanbul to our village to hold auditions, and I became its youngest member. It affected me just like water on a wilting flower. From that day on, I became one with my songs; I’ll never stop singing them. I had the opportunity to learn our history, customs and traditions directly from the songs of the kusans. But it went farther than that: music became my means of expressing myself, of communicating. Music became the light that illumined the way towards toward the awareness, formation and discovery of my own identity.

The songs on this album are those which I learned I learned and fell in love with as I encountered them on my musical journey from Istanbul to Hayasdan, in places like Erzurum and Adana.

In 2006, as a bonus track for recordings I made in Hayasdan under the direction of Norik Davtyan, I recorded “Yes Blbul Em” and “Oror,” in Kalan Müzik’s studio in Istanbul, accompanied by Ertan Tekin on duduk. It was the first recording of these songs accompanied solely by duduk. Lastly, in memory of Hrant Dink, we recorded “Sbidag, Badankov A?vanin,” with words and music by Mikail Aslan.

So here, like a “first bouquet” of Armenian songs, I present you with Hedker. 

03-05-2009