«Քանի դեռ ես պահանջված եմ, կմնամ այստեղ» - Հարցազրույց Վահան Արծրունու հետ

Diana Stepanyan's article is devoted to an interview with Armenian composer and musician Vahan Artsruni — founder of the group ARTSRUNI, author of the album "Komitas. Ten Revelations," and one of the creators of the Naregatsi Art Institute.

Creative Path and Genre Diversity

The conversation is structured as a biographical and artistic portrait of a musician who has moved from rock guitarist through spiritual choral singing to academic, symphonic rock, and electronic music. Artsruni emphasizes his principled rejection of stereotypes — in particular, his refusal to accept the label "bard," despite years of experience performing songs to guitar accompaniment set to the verses of Razmik Davoyan and Komitas.

Key Projects

Special attention is given to the musician's newest large-scale project — an adaptation of Assyrian sacred music:

an initiative by producer Lina Yakubova and a documentary film series on Assyrian communities around the world;
the recording of the liturgy and sacred sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East with priests from Urmia, Iran;
the creation of the albums "Sacred Episodes" and "Sacred Rituals," released in the USA as part of the compilation "Chants from the East";
a parallel project — a children's musical primer in the Assyrian language.

Also mentioned is his work on the theatrical project "The Mystery of the Armenian Woman," as well as soundtracks for Armenian animation and documentary historical films.

A Diagnosis of the State of Armenian Musical Culture

The central theme of the interview is a critical analysis of the current musical situation in Armenia:

the distinction between entertainment music ("rabis," pop-folk) and serious art, which exists within a narrow professional circle without broad public demand;
Armenia's loss of its status as a "cultural gateway" between the West and the Soviet space, a role characteristic of the Soviet era;
a shift in cultural orientation toward a surrogate "Asianness," shaped largely by the tastes of the Middle Eastern and American diaspora;
the diaspora's responsibility for exporting simplified musical forms, coupled with a lack of interest in "pure" academic and traditional genres.

Conclusion

The key conclusion of the interview is that, despite the absence of institutional and public support for serious art in contemporary Armenia, the country's musical culture in the twenty-first century possesses sufficient creative and moral resources to shape a new cultural reality — unlike the diaspora, which, in Artsruni's view, lacks such potential and is doomed to cultural stagnation.