World-renowned Iranian-Armenian composer and conductor Loris Tjeknavorian, 88, has received citizenship of the Republic of Armenia and taken the oath of allegiance, informs Armenia’s Internal Affairs Ministry.
He arrived in Armenia in 1989 and has worked here ever since, and the ministry described the gap between that life and his legal standing as a contradiction. “For decades, he belonged to Armenia, and Armenia considered him its own,” the ministry said. “He conducted his activities here, creating works about and for his country. But there was a contradiction: despite being so closely connected to Armenia, his legal status did not reflect that connection for many years, he was not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia.”
Tjeknavorian was born in Boroujerd, Iran, in 1937 and educated in Vienna, Salzburg and Michigan. He recorded with London’s major orchestras under an RCA contract and spent time in New York, and he could have kept building that career abroad.
“My father raised me in a patriotic spirit, and my dream was to come to Armenia,” he said. “Although I had a great career abroad, when the earthquake happened, I forgot everything and came to my homeland. I began my activities with the ‘Yes to Independence’ movement. The anthem, tricolor and coat of arms of our republic were sacred to me.”
He served as principal conductor and artistic director of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989 to 1998, and again from 1999 to 2000.
For him, being Armenian was a matter of identity, while citizenship was a legal bond with a state.
“Although the people accept me, it would have been good for me to have my homeland’s passport as well. I applied, and thank God, my dream came true,” he said.
The ceremony returned him to work he had done 3 decades earlier. “It was very emotional for me because when the anthem was played, I saw the flag and coat of arms and remembered that at one time I had fought for these very symbols in the National Assembly, presenting and defending them before the people. And today, under these very symbols, I myself took an oath to my homeland, to remain faithful to it,” he said.
Tjeknavorian has composed more than 70 works, including 5 symphonies, 2 operas and over 40 film scores, and made more than 60 recordings. His opera “Rostam and Sohrab,” drawn from the Shahnameh, took 25 years to write and was completed in Salzburg on a scholarship from Carl Orff, who taught him at the Mozarteum.
“I grew up an orphan. It is strange, I never had a country: in Persia, I was Armenian; in Armenia, I was Persian; in foreign countries, I was a foreigner. I never understood what it meant to have a country. I had no country. I felt like someone from Armenia, and when I left here, it was a great loss for me. I truly felt like an orphan. For the past week, I have felt that I have a country. And thank you,” he said.
