Following Armenian Charming Motives

This year, the Band of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff will introduce the audiences of the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival to the gorgeous music of ancient and diverse Armenia. This year, the Spasskaya Tower Military Tattoo will unfold in Moscow’s Red Square from August 26 to September 4.

Formed back in 1992, the ensemble has grown into a large, tightly-knit musical group that comprehensively contributes to the cultural life of the country and, to a great extent, promotes wind and partiotic war music. Over its 30-years of history, the Band of the Armenian AF General Staff has taken part in over 2000 events. In 2008, the Armenian military musicians performed at the St. Petersburg International Military Bands Festival, organized as part of the Day of Russia celebrations; in 2010, they took part in the Eksche International Military Bands Festival in Sweden, and in February 2019, they accompanied the 2019 IDEX International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

In 2017, the band made its debut at the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival in Moscow, while in September 2019, the ensemble traveled to Russia’s Far East to participate in the Spasskaya Tower on Sakhalin International Military Music Festival.

This year, the Armenian AF General Staff Band will bring to Moscow an alluring music program featuring plenty of Armenian national songs and melodies. Among others, the band will perform Spring from the Gayane ballet (composed by Aram Khachaturyan), Alashkert Kochari folk dance (to the accompaniment of duduk and dgol Armenian folk instruments), Ddma Jazz popular folk music piece (arranged by Martyn Vardazaryan), You are My Song, and Tsaghkadzor compositions (music by Robert Amirkhanyan and Stepan Shakaryan, respectively). Besides, musicians from Armenia will present to the guests of the Festival a song by Charles Aznavour (I Have Already Seen Myself) and My Dear, Muscovites, a popular hit from the Pokrovsky Gates film (music by Isaac Dunayevsky, lyrics by Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky).

Led by Lieutenant Colonel Hayk Grigoryan and conducted by Major Artak Simonyan, the ensemble enjoys close creative cooperation with musical and creative groups, as well as young authors and performers all around Armenia.