Arts & Entertainment

Farmington Hills Musician Ara Topouzian Wins Prestigious Kresge Fellowship

The Middle Eastern music performer and Patch blogger is among 24 Detroit-area literary and performing artists honored with a $25,000 cash award.

Ara Topouzian has a passion for preserving the Armenian folk music he loved as a child and now performs. 

This week, the Farmington Hills resident received a prestigious fellowship and $25,000 to help him advance his musical career. Topouzian is among 24 literary and performing artists who received the 2012 Kresge Artist Fellowships, which provide support metro Detroit artists "whose commitment to innovation and artistic achievement are evident in the quality of their work," according to the Kresge website.

"The (cash) award is certainly very nice, but what I'm excited about is hopefully this will allow me to do more musically. I think it will open a lot of different doors," Topouzian said. 

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A songwriter and performer, his chosen instrument is the kanun, a Middle Eastern harp. In January, Topouzian traveled to Richmond, VA, where he participated with the Virginia Commonwealth University Symphony in the premiere of “Ben Seni Variations", a 30-minute piece specifically written for the kanun. He has performed in Farmington-area and regional venues, from the Detroit Institute for Arts to Arts, Beats and Eats. 

Topouzian said he doesn't have a real plan for using the $25,000 award, although he's gotten more than a few suggestions about how to spend it. The award is completely unrestricted; there's no project or requirement attached to it. But he does have a mission as an artist: to ensure today's young people are exposed to Armenian and other world music. 

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"A lot of things are swirling in my head," he said. "One of the important things that I want to be able to do is to help preserve this music ... I feel we're slowly losing it. The records, the cassette tapes I grew up with no longer exist. I feel like I'm at the end of a dying breed of lovers of this music."

Topouzian said he feels it's important to bring awareness of the instrumentation to younger musicians, so they can pass it on as well. He said world music is "something we need to be aware of." 

"If I can reach a younger generation, that's very satisfying for me, and I've done some of that," he said. 

Learn more about Topouzian's music at aratopouzian.com, or follow his blog on our site. 


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