Komitas Vardapet

The single-named composer and ethnomusicologist Komitas may be regarded as the founder of the Armenian national school in classical music. Komitas has always been widely known among Armenians, but in the 21st century, his music has attracted interest from outside that culture as well. Komitas was born Soghomon Soghomonian in Kütahya in what then then the Ottoman Empire in present-day Turkey. After he was orphaned, he was sent to the Gevorgian Seminary in Etchmiadzin, Armenia. In addition to religious instruction, he received basic musical training there. Upon being ordained a...