Hasmik Torosyan; Giulio Zappa - Sounds of Armenia: Folk Songs by Komitas

A dream of the years, the call of the blood, the duty of the soul, a priceless treasure for me, which encompasses the magnificent melodies of my beautiful and ancient country. The melodies without which my soul is empty, my existence is incomplete. --Hasmik Torosyan

Komitas (1869-1935) was an Armenian composer, musicologist, medievalist, ethnographer-folklorist, choirmaster, singer, and poet. He is considered the founder of the Armenian national tradition of art music. Komitas' work and artistic legacy have played a key role in the history of Armenian music and in the crystallization of the Armenian national identity paradigm.

Hasmik Torosyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia. She graduated from the Romanos Melikyan Music College where she studied with T. Hambardzumyan; and from the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, where she studied with G. Geghamyan. Hasmik won a number of national and international awards, including the First Prize and Golden Medal in the Armenian Republic Competition named after Gohar Gasparyan; the President's Prize and Gold Medal for Young Singers of Armenia; the First Prize in the Bella voce international competition in Moscow, and was finalist at the 6th Seoul International Music Competition.