Armenian Heritage Night

Thank you for a wonderful celebration of Armenian culture

Detroit Public TV presented a special Armenian Heritage Night on Monday, March 16, 2015, that featured the broadcast of two important documentaries that commemorated the Armenian Genocide as well as celebrate the music legacy of its survivors. 

Challenge grants totaling $16,000 from the following generous donors matched contributions for Armenian Heritage Stories, doubling their donations to support DPTV’s role as this area’s historian, performance stage, story teller, and teacher: 

• The Alex and Marie Manoogian Foundation
• Jeanette and Richard Keramedjian Family and Lisa Keramedjian Meer and Brian Meer
• Tom and Debbie Krikorian 
• The Hagopian Family
• Dorothy Tarpinian

BROADCAST PREMIERE

Guardians of Music: A History of Armenian Music in Detroit

This one-hour film documentary, produced and narrated by Detroit Armenian musician and 2012 Kresge Artist Fellow Ara Topouzian, chronicles the history of generations of local Armenian music masters.  Traditional Armenian folk music ranges from ballads that describe centuries of village life to upbeat dance songs performed at weddings, community dances, and picnics.  These traditions have been handed down by generations of musicians, as well as survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.  The film features visits to metro Detroit locations where Armenian music was once prominent, as well as rare interviews with musicians and nightclub patrons of that era. The broadcast premiere was March 16, 2015 at 9:30 p.m. Reairing Sunday, March 22, at 4:30pm ET.