Abril Bookstore Presents ROORI Armenian Lullabies Presentation & Workshop with authors ARAM & VIRGINIA PATTIE KEROVPYAN

ROURI is a trilingual book & CD combo presenting songs to rock and lull your baby to sleep. In Armenian, the words differ from village to village, from region to region: oror, oror … orim, orim … rouri, rouri … eyour, eyour …They call upon the wind to rock the cradle, the stars to praise the little one, and the angels to guard him or her. These Armenian lullabies are full of images shared by the peoples of the region, from the rose to the nightingale, and are full of the hopes of all peoples, that the baby should rest well and grow and multiply.Virginia Kerovpyan will sing some of these marvelous Armenian folk poems along with the lightly plucked kanoun improvisations of Aram Kerovpyan. You can follow along and sing these traditional Armenian lullabies using the simple transliterations prepared for both English and French speakers, while you and your child enjoy the double-page illustrations by Maral Kerovpyan.

VIRGINIA PATTIE KEROVPYAN was born in Washington, D.C. and moved to Paris in the 1970’s. She has performed and recorded with various early music, as well as contemporary music, ensembles. Soloist of the Kotchnak and Akn ensembles, she has specialized in Armenian song since 1980. Her interpretation brings to the forefront the essence of this music, making its discovery and transmission more accessible.

ARAM KEROVPYAN was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He learned to play the kanoun and studied the Near Eastern music system with Master musician Saadeddin Öktenay. Moving to Paris, he joined the Kotchnak ensemble, performing Armenian folk and troubadour music, and in 1985 established the Akn ensemble specializing in Armenian liturgical chant. He has been the master-singer of the Armenian cathedral in Paris since 1990. He is active in the world of theater as musician, teacher, and composer. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology and publishes about modal theory and the history of Armenian liturgical music.