‘Return to Artsakh’: Music for Unity Announces 2024 Composition Competition Concert
After inviting composers to submit new works for the 2024 “Homecoming: Return to Artsakh” National Composition Competition, Music for Unity, in collaboration with the National Association of Composers USA Los Angeles Chapter, will present a concert where the pieces submitted by the six finalists will be performed by renowned musicians.
Music for Unity believes that music, as a universal language, can effectively bring awareness to global humanitarian issues. In September 2023, 120,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homeland of Artsakh, leaving behind their homes and heritage as a result of the dictatorial actions of Azerbaijan. This genocidal act aims to erase Armenian presence and culture in the region. Music for Unity protests such crimes against humanity through the powerful force of music.
The Homecoming project is inspired by Music for Unity’s belief that “all displaced persons have the right to return to their homes,” as stated by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović.
The six finalists of the 2024 Homecoming Return to Artsakh National Composition Competition are: Grigori Balasanyan – “Recollection”; Vahan Grigoryan – “Khnocu Erg”; Joan Huang – “Yearning”; Olivia Marckx – “Vignettes”; David Raiklen – “The Road Home”; and Ian Wiese – “And Churn.”
Join Music for Unity on September 28 at 7 p.m., at the Glendale Presbyterian Church for a wonderful culmination of this competition, featuring performances by the renowned Lyris Quartet and pianist Mathew Harikian.
Tickets are available online.
