State must educate children - Tigran Heqeqyan

The state has a lot to do when it comes to the upbringing of the younger generation, Tigran Heqeqyan, the head of the Armenian choir called "Little Singers" has said.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, dedicated to the discussion of penetration of Eastern-style elements, known as mugham, into the Armenian song art, Heqeqyan said that if not properly educated the youth are becoming uneducated parents of their own families in the future, contributing to the increase in the number of the uneducated among the society.

"The state must educate its children as they are further becoming uneducated parents and continue to raise the number of the uneducated society by a geometric progression," said he.

"This is a matter of national security," said Heqeqyan, adding that wars are not taking place on the battlefields only, but also at the level of culture.

In his words, music is "a language of the universe" and therefore it is easily penetrating into the souls of people. Hence, caution should be observed in an attempt not to become the hostages of a forced musical taste.

"What we are talking about [meaning mugham] is already the consequence. There are reasons, that is to say what we are talking about, is the fruit only. We forget that it is the tree that is yielding fruit," he said.

Further, he said that the current situation is the result of centuries-old colonization of Armenia and the influence of the colonizers' musical taste. "This is the consequence of imperfect taste," he said.

According to him, every pop artist in Armenia thinks it is his/her duty to include a song with mugham in his/her song-list. Mugham, which is considered art in the East, is not typical of the Armenian song art, Heqeqyan added.