Lucia Kagramanyan

Hi, I’m Lucia Kagramanyan, and these are hard facts about me. I research Armenian music and host a radio show Panorama Yerevan on NTS Radio. I DJ, paint, study at the art academy in Vienna, and explore behavioral economic interdependencies, such as what comes first, khorovats or kef? Still looking for the most rabiz pair of glasses that fits. I come from a music family, my grandfather Martin Vardazaryan is a well-known Armenian composer and jazz musician, and my great-grandfather was the founder of the first jazz Orchestra of Armenia - Tsolak Vardazaryan. I guess it was a must for me to continue pursuing music, but unfortunately, I did not really succeed at being an academically trained musician, so I decided to work with music in my own way and bring to you Armenian music in its huge variety in my shows. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get down to producing and releasing an album or two or three. Maria Vartanova (who took this picture) is my oldest childhood friend, and also the photographer behind almost all of my Panorama Yerevan shows. Our connection and mutual artist understanding are obvious! Even our great-grandparents worked together in the 30s!

Maria Vartanova

Hello, my name is Maria Vartanova. I am a trained pianist and graduated from Yerevan State Conservatory, but 5 years ago I decided to change my life and follow my passion. Since then, I have been fully involved in photography and work at the Armenian National Philharmonic. Orchestra and Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre as an in-house photographer. Guess this is the best way to combine music and photography since I come from a family of musicians, where generations have uninterruptedly followed the musical tradition. Vigen Vartanov, a renowned Armenian-Georgian photographer who worked with Parajanov, was also my uncle and was a huge inspiration to me.

Photographer: Maria Vartanova