Armenian children’s choir back from Japan tour (video)

After a 40-day concert tour in 18 cities and towns of Japan, the Little Singers of Armenia are back home.

At a news conference on Monday, their artistic director, Tigran Hekekya, said the choir’s concert program was devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Armenian-Japanese diplomatic relations and the 500th anniversary of Armenia’s printing art, as well as UNESCO’s decision to declare Yerevan a 2012 World Book Capital.

“We received the invitation from the Min-On organizations which annually arranges 1,000 concerts. They involve only those foreign musicians and choirs which, apart from being internationally acclaimed, rank higher than Japanese performers. The purpose is to enable them to learn more,” he said, adding that the organization has 8,000 choirs.

Hekekyan noted that their concerts, held in Japan’s best concert-halls, always met a crowded audience.

“We had 16 concerts and six meetings with two different choirs. It was a big honor for their choirs, as they themselves admitted. We had taken six Japanese songs, and the children ran the concerts in Japanese, introducing the song and the author,” he added.

The maestro further shared his impressions of the Japanese reception and the time spent in the country.

“We crossed the country from north to south twice for conducting the concerts. In addition, the children toured the country. We had many meetings with the local choirs,” he added.

The young singers attending the news conference also spoke of their impressions, focusing particularly on the Japanese hospitality.

“The long tour was a good experience for us, and we managed to overcome [the difficulties] also thanks to the Japanese people’s attitude. They were very warm to us,” said Hripsime Muradyan, one of the young singers.

Hasmik Muradyan, choir member, stressed the importance of the opportunity to get to know the highly developed Japanese culture.

Hekekyan said at the end that the very costly event was made possible thanks to the hosting country which covered all their expenses, including insurance.