# KOHAR Symphony Orchestra and Choir

The KOHAR Symphony Orchestra and Choir (also known as KOHAR) is a symphony orchestra and chorus based in Gyumri, Armenia.

## History

KOHAR was founded in 1997 as an independent musical and cultural institution by the Armenian culture patron, Harout Khatchadourian of Lebanon. Alongside his brothers, Shahe and Nar Khatchadourian, Khatchadourian sustained the activities of KOHAR and its concerts in memory of their late father, Aram, and named the orchestra to honor their mother 'Kohar'.
KOHAR initially started as a symphony orchestra in the year 2000, playing the music of Armenia, and other popular songs and well-known symphonies, under the helm of Creative Director and Conductor Sebouh Abcarian of Cyprus. Later, the KOHAR Choir was formed to complement the work of the KOHAR Symphony Orchestra.
KOHAR consisted of over 150 musicians and 12 solo singers, along with a 15-member dance ensemble. The Symphony Orchestra & Choir quickly grew in popularity with its initial outdoor concerts on the premises of KOHAR in Lebanon, which attracted interest from locals and overseas visitors.

## Tours

KOHAR's first major concert tour, All Time Armenian Favourites, took place in the summer of 2002, in Cyprus and Lebanon, and it spread over four days. The concerts were a popular cultural experience, drawing more than 4000 people to BIEL, downtown Beirut. The collection of traditional & popular songs "drew many into tears of nostalgia, reminiscence and pride".

## International success

In October 2005, Istanbul, Turkey, had KOHAR’s All Time Armenian Favorites Tour. On October 9–12, 2005, the concert was held at Lutfi Kirdar Concert Hall, with more than 7000 Armenians, and visiting audiences from Istanbul and the suburbs, and as far away as the Adana province attended.
KOHAR’s continued from one capital to another, and on 28–29 April 2006, the Grand Hall of the Kremlin, Moscow, almost 12,000 Armenian, Russian and foreign audiences, attended KOHAR’s performance for the first time. It was an unexpected appearance by an Armenian Orchestra in Russia, which was highly successful with the Russian audience.
KOHAR made its North American debut at the end of 2007 and visited the major cities of the US and Canada. The North American Tour of KOHAR began on October 18, 2007, in Los Angeles, and moved to San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, Toronto, and Montreal, before ending with New York’s Carnegie Hall on November 20, 2007.
KOHAR has continued touring the Middle East, commencing with the Syrian Arab Republic, and the first appearance on July 9, 2009, at The Opera Theater of Damascus, followed by successful performances on the 15th, 16th, and 17th July 2009, within the world heritage site of the Citadel of Aleppo.
KOHAR showcased its largest concert with Stars of Armenia at Liberty Square near the Opera House in Yerevan, Armenia on 28 May 2011. Many popular Armenian singers performed.
The live concert was broadcast live by Armenia’s Channel 1 TV and for the first time via Internet live stream.Over 10,000 spectators, in addition to tens of thousands of TV and Internet viewers from Armenia and the Diaspora, watched KOHAR’s performance.
KOHAR’s latest production by HAYASA Productions LTD (Cyprus) and Domino Production (Armenia) had a superb 3D mapping and projection on the façade of the Opera House, featuring images that transposed into Armenia’s history from Noah’s Ark to its national symbol Ararad, its alphabet – the Ayp Pen Kim – and reaching the historic Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The culmination of the night was the performance of the song “Babenagan Guiliguia,” which topped the charts in Armenia as the Number 1 song for 8 consecutive weeks. The audience joined in by waving more than 3,000 flags of the Kingdom of Cilicia that were distributed by the organizers. The audience also sang the song “Veraganknir Guiliguia,” which has become KOHAR’s anthem.
KOHAR aims to revive and promulgate the Armenian alphabet and culture for to preserve Armenian heritage for future generations.

## Awards and acknowledgements

In 2004, KOHAR won the Intermedia Award at the World Media Festival in Hamburg, Germany. In 2005, it also won the Anoush Achievement Award at the Seventh Annual Armenian Music Awards, held at the Hollywood Palladium, California.
Patron of Armenian culture Harout Khatchadourian of Lebanon, was awarded at the presidential palace with the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal by President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia on 17 September 2011 for his decades of continuous cultural contribution in different Armenian Diasporas in safeguarding and promulgating Armenian music, song, and culture in the Armenian alphabet.