Gaghant 2021 - Virtual

Tuesday, January 5th, 2021

The annual ACOM Gaghant was held this year on Sunday, January 3, 2021 via Zoom. Hosted and emceed by John Parker-Der Boghossian (ACOM President), the celebration began with some introductory remarks by John. The current board of ACOM was then introduced, followed by the presentation of the elected new vice-president, Steven Usitalo, and a new board member-at-large, Alarica Hassett. 

Next up on the program was a performance by Seda Bagdasarova of "You" an operatic piece in Russian. John then presented a slide show that highlighted ACOM events throughout the year 2020. A challenging year, but one that ACOM adapted to and kept active with a variety of virtual events..

Andy Ylitalo came on next and he performed two Armenian pieces, one on the Duduk and one on the Saxophone. An excellent job from Andy.

John then introduced the Vahram Kardashian Community Service Award, new this year, but expected to be an annual award. This year the Award was presented posthumously to Dr. John Najarian for his dedication to the Armenian community and not only to Minnesota but to the world at large for his pioneering work in transplant surgery. Dr. Najarian's son, Pete, was able to join us and accepted the award in his father's name and for Dr. Najarian's family.

A final musical performance was presented by Boghos (Paul) Gauro who played two pieces on the guitar, a Flamenco tune and an Armenian song with Flamenco styling.

To end the evening, John opened up the meeting for people to socialize and talk about their good events over the past year. This discussion lasted for about an hour where community members also iintroduced a number of their pets.....

The virtual event was attended by 30 people and was a great way to start ACOM's 41st year. For those who were unable to participate in ACOM's virtual Gaghant, click on the following link to watch a video of the program.

Click HERE to view the event video. (Total running time 1hr 45 min.)

Featured Video

Survival Songs: From West to East

A documentary film that is an ethnographic collage composed of stories and songs of various Armenian communities formed after the emigrations from Western to Eastern Armenia. Directed by: Christina Soloyan, Davit Avetisyan.

 

 

 

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