25 years on stage: Paros Chamber Choir holds jubilee concert

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Jubilee Concert of Paros Chamber Choir was recently held at Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet Theater. Paros, a unique inclusive musical group mostly comprised of singers with disabilities including wheelchair users, has undergone a long path of creative accomplishment. The Choir was founded 25 years ago at the Red Cross Rehabilitation Center. At that time, an important goal was set: to support the psychological rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injuries. Currently Paros operating under the umbrella of Unison NGO is a widely-known choir.

“The mission of Paros is not only to represent our culture but also to serve as a positive sample and advocate promoting active, independent and decent living for persons with disabilities in Armenia. Our supporters have significantly contributed to the implementation of these goals. A bright evidence of this is the fact that since 2011, when VivaCell-MTS became the General Partner of the choir, Paros has had an unprecedented creative progress, becoming a winner of prestigious international contests and gaining numerous prizes and medals,” said Armen Alaverdyan, Director of Unison NGO and the Paros Chamber Choir.

“Life is a challenge, a chain of challenges to live beautiful, to overcome hardships, to create, to set goals and to achieve. Here on this stage are people, who are guided by that principle. They have not yielded to the hardships of life, but have rather found their own way to overcome them by choosing music as their weapon. The willpower every member of the choir manifests for years is one that is typical only to really strong people who truly love life. The 25 years of achievements are important and I hope there are more to come. Our cooperation will extend to the next year, too,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

Paros has released 5 CDs, performed on stages of Armenia, Artsakh and overseas (Lebanon, Georgia, Great Britain, Italy, France, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia and Russia).

The jubilee concert was supported by the RA Ministry of Culture and the Paros Foundation. The program included compositions by A.Khachaturian, A.Vivaldi, G.Verdi, C.Orff and Kh.Avetisyan. The symphony orchestra and choir of the Opera and Ballet Theater, as well as Naregatsi Orchestra joined Paros for the celebration.

The General Partner of the Paros Chamber Choir is VivaCell-MTS. The Paros Foundation, the Kulhanjian Strauch Family (USA) and Gratsia International Post-Trauma Rehabilitation Center of the Armenian Red Cross Society have also constantly supported the choir.