Sing Armenian Church Songs with Nvair & friends

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Sing-a-long songs from the Armenian Divine Liturgy.  Hymns in Armenian and English for children and their families.
 

The Armenian Apostolic Church, founded in 301 AD, is the world’s oldest national church. It has defined the Armenian people’s relationship with God for over 1700 years.
 

Today there is a need to keep the tradition of the Soorp Badarak/Armenian Divine Liturgy alive and relevant for today’s young Armenian family. Over the past several years Nvair, along with life-long educator Andrea Carden, has been successfully teaching primary-grade Sunday school students Badarak hymns. Students (ages 4-11) learn to worship as their ancestors have for centuries.
 

So inspired by the enthusiasm of their students & families, Nvair & Andrea embarked on a mission that led to co-producing, We Sing Armenian Church Songs with Nvair & friends. They chose seven Yegmalian hymns from the Divine Liturgy. Each hymn is sung twice: first in krapar/classical Armenian, followed by the same hymn in English. The translations here are not meant to replace our centuries-old krapar, but to be used as an essential tool to provide a deeper understanding of our ancestral liturgical hymns.
 

Nvair & Andrea's mission is to spread the word of God to our youth through song and worship, while providing the links between our celebrated past, face the reality of our present and build foundations for our future.
 

Rejoice!


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Donadzar: New Year & Christmas songs in Armenian

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'Donadzar' means Holiday Tree/Christmas Tree in Armenian.  This CD features New Year's and Christmas songs in Armenian for children and their families to enjoy throughout the Holidays.
 

The Winter Holiday Season is a time for family get-togethers with a great deal of focus upon the children. This concept led Nvair Kadian Beylerian to embark on this musical project: an informal, family-style sing-a-long album. Similar to many cultural traditions throughout the world, Armenian family traditions dictate that the days of holiday celebration always include an opportunity to share one's talents and experiences. Gathered together, one family member might begin by telling a story, another might play an instrument, and yet another would lead the family in song.
 

'Donadzar' embraces that idea by including Nvair's own family, friends and children.   Following months of research, Nvair compiled a collection of songs in Armenian that can offer something to every member of the family, young or old.  She feels that, "Many of these songs are musical treasures to be kept and nurtured in the family environment.  Some are new, some are translations and others have been sung at Armenian holiday gatherings for generations."   To meet the needs of listeners who aren't fluent in Armenian, HYEfamily.com provides transliterated lyrics within the CD's insert.  English translations are available on the company's website, www.HYEfamily.com

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Ari Mer Doon - Come to Our Home with Nvair

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Ari Mer Doon - it means 'come to our home' in Armenian - is a fun compilation of some of the artist's favorite children's songs. Many of these songs were passed down through the generations of Nvair's family and some reflect back to her days in Armenian school. These rich traditions are brought into a contemporary setting, making Ari Mer Doon with Nvair a melodious mix of songs for today's children to enjoy.
 

Ari Mer Doon with Nvair is a selection of songs that goes on a journey never before taken. It can be valued as a fun and exciting educational tool for children, but also has a strong entertaining value for parents and friends. Songs adapted for children include the title track Ari Mer Doon (come to our home), the hantes khunjouyk dance, Khundzori Dzari Dagin (underneath the apple tree), and Ov Ooni (who has it) which describes the lovely landscape of Armenia and questions the listener, "Who has it?" The response, "We have it!" With such traditional village treasures as Egeh Doogeh (eenie meenie minee mo), a rhythmic rhyme which village children from historic Armenia used to determine who goes first, Ari Mer Doon with Nvair offers more than just any children's CD. It can be placed within a historic context, as it reflects on the treasures brought to the US by the generation of survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and imparted to their children, grandchildren and in this case, great-grandchildren.
 

The CD includes Doon Im Arevn Es, a translation of one of Nvair's favorite songs, You are My Sunshine. There is also an original composition, Eshligin Yerguh (song of the little donkey), written in collaboration with her mother, Sosy. To make this labor of love a true HYEfamily endeavor, Nvair's daughters, Tamar (8) and Lucine (5), sing along with her. They are featured singing throughout the CD, sprinkled with short recitations and brief, little conversations.
 

This is Nvair's third Armenian children's CD, following 2Mayrer: children's songs in Armenian (2001) and Donadzar: New Year's and Christmas songs for children and their families (2003). Each has been nominated for the Annual Armenian Music Awards in the category of Best Children's Album in their respective years. Donadzar has most recently been nominated in the Big Apple Armenian Music Awards 2003 in Best Children's Album category.
 

Ari Mer Doon with Nvair is her first collaboration with Raffi Bandazian of Bandaz Productions. Raffi also felt strongly about this project, as he records and engineers the entire project, and performs nearly all the instrumentation.
 

Bandaz shares that "This was a great project to work on. Nvair has a great positive energy about her and it comes through her music. We had a lot of fun creating this CD, knowing that children will be listening and enjoying it as much as we enjoyed making it."
 

Nvair is also honored to feature world-renowned oudist Ara Dinkjian, who accompanies her on the CD's closing number, Hyreni Oror (Native Lullaby). She has a strong emotional connection with this particular selection, as the lyrics were written by her maternal grandfather, author/poet Anoush Krikorian, who in turn was inspired by Aram Khachaturian's moving composition of the Lullaby in the Gayane Suite Ballet. Ara's arrangement and sensitive performance balances an old world sound with a timeless lullaby.

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