Ann Arbor audience sparked several thoughts about world music

This past week, I had the opportunity to perform and lecture about Armenian and Middle Eastern traditional music at the Ann Arbor Main District Library in downtown Ann Arbor, MI. If you don't know anything about this library, you really should check it out, as they greatly contribute to the arts with a diverse offering of word, music, graphic and other forms of art.

I have had the opportunity to present at this library a few other times over the years, and I really look forward to the opportunity each time. I find that speaking to an audience that, for the most part, is completely void of any information on traditional world music, let alone Armenian music, is quite satisfying. As I said to a couple of the patrons following the presentation, it is important for me to be able to pass along the history and provide some flavor of the music to a brand new audience. This type of music only lasts through the ages as long as there is interest. My fear continues to be that the music may eventually become forgotten. In a small way, I feel that I am helping contribute the preservation of the music.

Now, this crowd was not a large one, but there were around thirty people of all walks of life and ages. Most didn't know me, and whereas there were some familiar faces, I didn't recognize most of them. To me, that's exciting. It shows me that there is interest. I only wish I could make more of these presentations, in many ways, it truly is chicken soup for the soul.