Notations Lab & Festival
Yerevan, 2025
A two-week interdisciplinary laboratory and festival where sound, media, and performance meet Armenian classical heritage.
The State Philharmonia of Armenia
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Notations is a two-week interdisciplinary laboratory held at the Armenian State Philharmonia. It brings together artists from different fields to study, reinterpret, and transform Armenian classical heritage through sound art, media, performance, and technology. The lab is built around shared research, daily practice, and collective production. Scores become open material. Ideas move between disciplines. Authorship becomes fluid.
- 12 daysThree meals a day, lectures, workshops, rehearsals, studio time, a daily 15-minute rave, and very little sleep.
- 60 artistsFrom 9 countries, working across music, sound art, visual art, animation, video, and artificial intelligence.
- 25 mentorsClassical composers, jazz virtuosos, technical magicians, media artists, and interdisciplinary creators guiding the process through talks, workshops, and one-to-one dialogues.
- 1 VardavarAncient Armenian Water Festival — a city-wide summer ritual of playful water fights, shared joy, and collective release.
Laboratory of symphony, interpretation, and collective experiment
Everything begins with a single piece.
Avet Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3 — digitized for the first time especially for this laboratory by Armenian National Music — becomes an entry point, an invitation.
To look closer.
To listen deeply.
To rearrange.
To question.
To seek.
The focus is on what happens in between.
A score is sound and text, movement and light, architecture and mistake, silence and interaction.
We compose through touch, speech, gesture, movement, editing, rhythm, attention.
We create scores of existence in space and time.
Process over form.
Form over outcome.
Still, we care about everything that grows out of honest searching, of dialogue, of presence.
Fragile. Unexpected. Alive.
Ten days in the lab — a time of friction.
Between participants. Between the piece and our experience. Between past and present.
A synthesis emerges — cross-genre, multi-format.
A chain reaction begins.
Notes, spaces, objects come alive.
People open to each other.
The audience enters a space of co-existence.
Becomes part of the dialogue.
A participant. A co-author. A witness.
The laboratory functions as an ecosystem.
Impulses emerge from within and from beyond.
Curators, experts, mediators, professionals hold balance within a flexible structure.
They take risks. They improvise.
To reach something greater than the sum of our potentials.
This is Notations.
Change is our result.
In the body. In perception. In relation.
Even if just for a moment.
Everything begins with a single piece.
Avet Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3 — digitized for the first time especially for this laboratory by Armenian National Music — becomes an entry point, an invitation.
To look closer.
To listen deeply.
To rearrange.
To question.
To seek.
The focus is on what happens in between.
A score is sound and text, movement and light, architecture and mistake, silence and interaction.
We compose through touch, speech, gesture, movement, editing, rhythm, attention.
We create scores of existence in space and time.
Process over form.
Form over outcome.
Still, we care about everything that grows out of honest searching, of dialogue, of presence.
Fragile. Unexpected. Alive.
Ten days in the lab — a time of friction.
Between participants. Between the piece and our experience. Between past and present.
A synthesis emerges — cross-genre, multi-format.
A chain reaction begins.
Notes, spaces, objects come alive.
People open to each other.
The audience enters a space of co-existence.
Becomes part of the dialogue.
A participant. A co-author. A witness.
The laboratory functions as an ecosystem.
Impulses emerge from within and from beyond.
Curators, experts, mediators, professionals hold balance within a flexible structure.
They take risks. They improvise.
To reach something greater than the sum of our potentials.
This is Notations.
Change is our result.
In the body. In perception. In relation.
Even if just for a moment.
Avet Terterian
Street Banners
Zin
T-shirt
outcome
The process centered on a specially digitized version of Avet Terterian’s Third Symphony, treated as an open score for reinterpretation. Participants stretched, translated, and rebuilt the material into installations, sonic experiments, multimedia works, new scores, and live performances.
The lab culminated in a two-day public showcase at the State Philharmonia, presenting works created during the residency:
- 21 concertsLive sets, ensembles, improvisations, and reinterpretations of archival scores.
- 36 installationsSound environments, audiovisual works, interactive pieces, and spatial experiments.
- 7 performancesHybrid formats between music, movement, media, and staged action.
- 1000+ visitorsTwo days of open doors, new experiences, conversations, and shared listening.
The strongest feedback focused on the environment itself. Artists experienced the laboratory as a safe and supportive space, which lowered barriers to experimentation.
concerts
Curators: Aram Hovhannisyan, Vardan Harutyunyan
1. Neumatic Roots by Napoleon Poghosyan
A reflection on Avet Terterian’s notation style, which explores aleatoric and repetitive techniques.
+ Intervisual Sonic No. 1
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
2. Dissonant Mind by Mileta Gazanchyan
A performance with traditional music elements that features a striking contrast between three parts. Its complex symbolism remains open to viewer interpretation.
+ Intervisual Sonic No. 2
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
3. 'maze(d) by Neunhas
A mosaic of tiny musical fragments from Part 2 of Avet Terterian’s Symphony No. 3. An attempt to give polyphonic texture to monody.
+ Post-visual Sonic No. 3
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
Performers: Grigor Budaghyan (Clarinet), Gohar Solkaryan (Qanon), Varduhi Mirzoyan (Cello), Thereza Markosyan (Piano), Haig Gragian (Live electronics, saz, dispositive electronics), Ariana Hernandez Vera (Prepared piano), Gayane Aslanyan (Keyboard electronics, live electronics)
Animation: Raf Tadevossian, Katerina Klitonchik, Yelena Nersesyan, Anna Kichigina, Aleksandra Deeva, Andrey Silvestrov, Blue Pencil
1. Neumatic Roots by Napoleon Poghosyan
A reflection on Avet Terterian’s notation style, which explores aleatoric and repetitive techniques.
+ Intervisual Sonic No. 1
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
2. Dissonant Mind by Mileta Gazanchyan
A performance with traditional music elements that features a striking contrast between three parts. Its complex symbolism remains open to viewer interpretation.
+ Intervisual Sonic No. 2
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
3. 'maze(d) by Neunhas
A mosaic of tiny musical fragments from Part 2 of Avet Terterian’s Symphony No. 3. An attempt to give polyphonic texture to monody.
+ Post-visual Sonic No. 3
Sound reflection on the graphic animation, echoing the previous piece.
Performers: Grigor Budaghyan (Clarinet), Gohar Solkaryan (Qanon), Varduhi Mirzoyan (Cello), Thereza Markosyan (Piano), Haig Gragian (Live electronics, saz, dispositive electronics), Ariana Hernandez Vera (Prepared piano), Gayane Aslanyan (Keyboard electronics, live electronics)
Animation: Raf Tadevossian, Katerina Klitonchik, Yelena Nersesyan, Anna Kichigina, Aleksandra Deeva, Andrey Silvestrov, Blue Pencil
Dedicated to Terterian
A jazz piece built from excerpts of Symphony No. 3: rhythmic patterns are transformed into polyrhythms, while melodic fragments are harmonized.
Fake Prince
By Arman Peshtmaljyan
An illustrative piece based on a reharmonized and reimagined jazz standard. A poor boy falls in love with a princess, dreams of being a prince, and then wakes to reality.
Nman chi / Unlike
By Nikola Chen
An impression of Armenian traditional scales, reinterpreted through sampled folk instruments performed by a jazz/electro collective.
A jazz piece built from excerpts of Symphony No. 3: rhythmic patterns are transformed into polyrhythms, while melodic fragments are harmonized.
Fake Prince
By Arman Peshtmaljyan
An illustrative piece based on a reharmonized and reimagined jazz standard. A poor boy falls in love with a princess, dreams of being a prince, and then wakes to reality.
Nman chi / Unlike
By Nikola Chen
An impression of Armenian traditional scales, reinterpreted through sampled folk instruments performed by a jazz/electro collective.
Improvisation on 3rd Symphony's Duduk theme
This performance grew from a shared exploration of how each of the participants imagines sound. It blends traditional instruments with an experimental approach.
Shhau (Electronics, plugged grand piano)
Hayk Karoyi (Woodwinds, electronics)
Argam Hakobyan (Electronics)
Levon Yerkanyan (El. Guitar)
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (Electronics, El. Cello)
Mar Margaryan (El. Qanun, vox)
Nare Davtyan (Vox)
Vahe Abrahamyan (Electronics)
Davit Aydiyan (Electronics, Viola)
Ash Ghazar (Qamancha)
Evgeniy Kazenkov (Instruments with electronics)
This performance grew from a shared exploration of how each of the participants imagines sound. It blends traditional instruments with an experimental approach.
Shhau (Electronics, plugged grand piano)
Hayk Karoyi (Woodwinds, electronics)
Argam Hakobyan (Electronics)
Levon Yerkanyan (El. Guitar)
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (Electronics, El. Cello)
Mar Margaryan (El. Qanun, vox)
Nare Davtyan (Vox)
Vahe Abrahamyan (Electronics)
Davit Aydiyan (Electronics, Viola)
Ash Ghazar (Qamancha)
Evgeniy Kazenkov (Instruments with electronics)
Curators and participants of Notations Laboratory come together for a spontaneous musical experiment—moody, freeform, and off-script. Expect unconventional textures, unexpected harmonies, and a blend of sound table magic, voice, and instruments.
Performers: Levon Yerkanyan (Voice), Mileta Gazanchyan (Rhodes keys), Simona Markevich (Sound table, voice), Dark Babette (Sound table, voice), Emma Bayer (Sound table), Tigran Toti (Trumpet), Abgar Alaverdyan (Bass), Hamlet Grigoryan (Drums), Andriesh Gandrabur (Guitar), Hayk Karoyi (Brass), Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (Contrabass), Nikola Chen (Sound Engineering)
Performers: Levon Yerkanyan (Voice), Mileta Gazanchyan (Rhodes keys), Simona Markevich (Sound table, voice), Dark Babette (Sound table, voice), Emma Bayer (Sound table), Tigran Toti (Trumpet), Abgar Alaverdyan (Bass), Hamlet Grigoryan (Drums), Andriesh Gandrabur (Guitar), Hayk Karoyi (Brass), Hovhannes Hovhannisyan (Contrabass), Nikola Chen (Sound Engineering)
performances
A single, monumental cluster where acoustic and electronic tones converge into a dense resonance — a cosmic silence dedicated to Avet Terterian’s 3rd Symphony.
Performers: Andriesh Gandrabur, Davit Aydiyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Lusine MLKE-Galstyan, Eliza Bagdhiyan, Simona Markevich, Sergey Umroyan, Mar Margaryan, Black Babette, Varduhi Mirzoyan, Syuzanna Juharyan, Evgeny Kazenkov, Tigran Suchyan, Hayk Karoyi, Grigor Baghdasaryan, Emma Bayer
Performers: Andriesh Gandrabur, Davit Aydiyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Lusine MLKE-Galstyan, Eliza Bagdhiyan, Simona Markevich, Sergey Umroyan, Mar Margaryan, Black Babette, Varduhi Mirzoyan, Syuzanna Juharyan, Evgeny Kazenkov, Tigran Suchyan, Hayk Karoyi, Grigor Baghdasaryan, Emma Bayer
Live Musicians: Hayk Karoyi, Ash Ghazar, Arash Azadi, Emma Bayer, Yasmin Rai, Anna Sakhlyan, Lusine MLKÉ-Galstian, Simona Markevich
By Andronik Khachiian
Constellation of audio-visual performances. Four musicians follow the lead of ever-changing visual conductors — animated, abstract scores shaped live by guest hands.
Lusine MLKÉ-Galstian (Flute, vocal)
Eliza Baghdiyan (Guitar)
Gayane Aslanyan (Keys)
Black Babette (Effects)
Nadya Xyxu (Video artist)
Blue Pencil (Author of “The Sonic Cosmography")
Animation: Raf Tadevossian, Katerina Klitonchik, Yelena Nersesyan, Anna Kichigina, Aleksandra Deeva, Andrey Silvestrov
Set-design: Avdeev Yuriy, Daria Sadovnikova, Robert Poghosyan, Karina Malik
Constellation of audio-visual performances. Four musicians follow the lead of ever-changing visual conductors — animated, abstract scores shaped live by guest hands.
Lusine MLKÉ-Galstian (Flute, vocal)
Eliza Baghdiyan (Guitar)
Gayane Aslanyan (Keys)
Black Babette (Effects)
Nadya Xyxu (Video artist)
Blue Pencil (Author of “The Sonic Cosmography")
Animation: Raf Tadevossian, Katerina Klitonchik, Yelena Nersesyan, Anna Kichigina, Aleksandra Deeva, Andrey Silvestrov
Set-design: Avdeev Yuriy, Daria Sadovnikova, Robert Poghosyan, Karina Malik
By Nadya Xyxu & Eliza Baghdiyan
A generative vocal performance enhanced with electronics. An algorithm produces the Armenian alphabet, inspired by Avet Terterian’s Symphony No. 3.
A generative vocal performance enhanced with electronics. An algorithm produces the Armenian alphabet, inspired by Avet Terterian’s Symphony No. 3.
By Emma Bayer
Fragments draws from the pacing, silence, and density of Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3, reimagined as a graphic score for improvisation.
Fragments draws from the pacing, silence, and density of Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3, reimagined as a graphic score for improvisation.
By Emma Bayer & Dark Babette
Nonlinear Liturgy weaves improvisation and granular synthesis into a slow, ritual-like soundscape echoing Terteryan’s sensibility through suspended time and immersive listening.
Lilia Voskanyan (Violin), Davit Aydiyan (Alto), Hayk Karoyi (Blul, duduk, Zurna), Grigor Budaghyan (Clarinet), Tigran Suchyan (Flugelhorn), Lusine MLKE-Galstyan, Eliza Baghdiyan, Simona Markevich, Fe (Vocal) Field recordings from Orgov Radio-Optical Telescope Naré Davtyan (Voice & lyrics), Ash Ghazar (Qamancha), Mar Margaryan (Qanun), Shahen Khandkaryan (Percussion), Kai Nystagmus (Curator)
Nonlinear Liturgy weaves improvisation and granular synthesis into a slow, ritual-like soundscape echoing Terteryan’s sensibility through suspended time and immersive listening.
Lilia Voskanyan (Violin), Davit Aydiyan (Alto), Hayk Karoyi (Blul, duduk, Zurna), Grigor Budaghyan (Clarinet), Tigran Suchyan (Flugelhorn), Lusine MLKE-Galstyan, Eliza Baghdiyan, Simona Markevich, Fe (Vocal) Field recordings from Orgov Radio-Optical Telescope Naré Davtyan (Voice & lyrics), Ash Ghazar (Qamancha), Mar Margaryan (Qanun), Shahen Khandkaryan (Percussion), Kai Nystagmus (Curator)
By Arman Harutyunyan
By Black Babette
I sit playing on synths and Playtronics, surrounded by a mess of cables, with wires tangled in my hair — as if I’m caught in them.
I sit playing on synths and Playtronics, surrounded by a mess of cables, with wires tangled in my hair — as if I’m caught in them.
By Nikola Chen & Black Babette
Nanotonal granularism combining nonlinear psychobio-pharmonto-analytical research into the sonification of noise.
Nanotonal granularism combining nonlinear psychobio-pharmonto-analytical research into the sonification of noise.
By Roma Ricaai
For the first time at the Philharmonia of Armenia, a neural network composes and performs an orchestral piece, led by a human conductor.
For the first time at the Philharmonia of Armenia, a neural network composes and performs an orchestral piece, led by a human conductor.
By Fe, Vardan Harutyunyan & Gevorg Grigoryan
A performance with 2 pianos and live visuals.
A performance with 2 pianos and live visuals.
By Roma Ricaai
A live improvisation where musicians interact with an AI system. Instrument signals are transformed into entirely new sounds using custom machine learning models.
Performers: Roma Ricaai, Fe, Simona Markevich
A live improvisation where musicians interact with an AI system. Instrument signals are transformed into entirely new sounds using custom machine learning models.
Performers: Roma Ricaai, Fe, Simona Markevich
By Himiko Ni
An improvised sonic conversation between artists and the river’s recorded memory, transformed live into new forms of listening.
Performers: Simona Markevich, Fe, Roma Ricaai
An improvised sonic conversation between artists and the river’s recorded memory, transformed live into new forms of listening.
Performers: Simona Markevich, Fe, Roma Ricaai
installations
A visual symphony on the facade of the Armenian State Philharmonia, inspired by the music of Avet Terterian.
By Seda Grigoryan, Tigran Araqelyan, Yura Boguslavsky, Gevorg Grigoryan, Andrey Silvestrov, Emily Nikoghosyan, Shahane Harutyunyan, Blue Pencil, Sasha Deeva, Katerina Klitonchik, Anya Kichigina, Lena Derunc, Raf Tadevosyan
By Seda Grigoryan, Tigran Araqelyan, Yura Boguslavsky, Gevorg Grigoryan, Andrey Silvestrov, Emily Nikoghosyan, Shahane Harutyunyan, Blue Pencil, Sasha Deeva, Katerina Klitonchik, Anya Kichigina, Lena Derunc, Raf Tadevosyan
By Nadya Xyxu & Blue Pencil
Sound can generate not just music, but also impulse, color, and language — all becoming part of the audience's emotional journey. Knocking on the grand sound!
Sound can generate not just music, but also impulse, color, and language — all becoming part of the audience's emotional journey. Knocking on the grand sound!
by Misak Samokatian
A light and sound installation where composers and technologists weave code, acoustics, and the architecture of the Philharmonic into a living audiovisual organism.
A light and sound installation where composers and technologists weave code, acoustics, and the architecture of the Philharmonic into a living audiovisual organism.
By Fe
Sound installation, based on Khaz-inspired graphic scores, interpreted by musicians on ancient Armenian instruments.
Sound installation, based on Khaz-inspired graphic scores, interpreted by musicians on ancient Armenian instruments.
By Himiko
An interactive installation where viewers navigate a virtual soundscape of water sources, each holding its own rhythm, memory, and emotion.
An interactive installation where viewers navigate a virtual soundscape of water sources, each holding its own rhythm, memory, and emotion.
XR.001 is an immersive journey blending AR, VR, and projection mapping to explore how perception shapes reality.
AR Audioreactive Journey: Participants interact with sound and visual elements that trigger responsive, dynamic environments, amplifying the sensory experience.
VR Experience: Participants experience immersive video projections that envelop them, transforming the building space and extending the experience through a showcase of the artists’ works.
Projection Mappings: This separate aspect of the project features projection mappings around the building, in collaboration with different artistic groups, to showcase artworks and real-time visual projections.
Curator: Gevorg Grigoryan
Artists: Emilya Nikoghosyan, Shahane Harutyunyan, Anna Kalenchyan, Luiza Khechoyan
AR Audioreactive Journey: Participants interact with sound and visual elements that trigger responsive, dynamic environments, amplifying the sensory experience.
VR Experience: Participants experience immersive video projections that envelop them, transforming the building space and extending the experience through a showcase of the artists’ works.
Projection Mappings: This separate aspect of the project features projection mappings around the building, in collaboration with different artistic groups, to showcase artworks and real-time visual projections.
Curator: Gevorg Grigoryan
Artists: Emilya Nikoghosyan, Shahane Harutyunyan, Anna Kalenchyan, Luiza Khechoyan
By Himiko
A visual meta-fairy tale told through six digital works, reflecting on cosmic creation, destruction, and the raw language of light and noise.
A visual meta-fairy tale told through six digital works, reflecting on cosmic creation, destruction, and the raw language of light and noise.
By Seda Grigoryan
An immersive audiovisual installation where circling domes evoke a meditative space for reflecting on presence and responsibility in a world of simultaneous collapse and wonder.
Ani Galstyan, Shoghakat MLKÉ-Galstian, Shhau (Music)
An immersive audiovisual installation where circling domes evoke a meditative space for reflecting on presence and responsibility in a world of simultaneous collapse and wonder.
Ani Galstyan, Shoghakat MLKÉ-Galstian, Shhau (Music)
By Ekaterina Klitonchik
Bring the rose to life through music. Video Installation with Live Performance (Theremin)
Bring the rose to life through music. Video Installation with Live Performance (Theremin)
Animaton Department Interactive Installation with Live Performance
By Andrey Silvestrov
A story told in 7 panes of glass.
A story told in 7 panes of glass.
By Himiko
A sound and light installation tracing the imagined life of an astral body through memory, energy, and time — both infinite and fleeting.
Poems are written by Mar Margaryan & Blue Pencil
Read by Mar Margaryan & Blue Pencil
A sound and light installation tracing the imagined life of an astral body through memory, energy, and time — both infinite and fleeting.
Poems are written by Mar Margaryan & Blue Pencil
Read by Mar Margaryan & Blue Pencil
By Daria Sadovnikova & Karina Malik (GORG)
Interactive Installation. Take a flashlight and shine it around.
Interactive Installation. Take a flashlight and shine it around.
By Avdeev Yuriy & Robert Poghosyan (GORG)
Sound emerging from flea market finds, where the past takes on a new rhythmic form.
Sound emerging from flea market finds, where the past takes on a new rhythmic form.
By Yasmin Rai
This octophonic work blends traditional Armenian instruments, synthesizers, and field recordings from Orgov Observatory. Echoing Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3, it fuses organic and electronic sound into a hypnotic, ritual-like sonic space.
This octophonic work blends traditional Armenian instruments, synthesizers, and field recordings from Orgov Observatory. Echoing Terteryan’s Symphony No. 3, it fuses organic and electronic sound into a hypnotic, ritual-like sonic space.
By Andrea Laudante
Time, take me by the hand— lead me back to the house that once held our lives. Terterian’s Third Symphony is an act of resistance. To resist is to remain.
Time, take me by the hand— lead me back to the house that once held our lives. Terterian’s Third Symphony is an act of resistance. To resist is to remain.
By Simona Markevich
No-man kneads us again out of Earth and Loam,
No-man spirits our Dust.
No-man…
Paul Celan
No-man kneads us again out of Earth and Loam,
No-man spirits our Dust.
No-man…
Paul Celan
By Arash Azadi
A ritual soundscape blending Armenian instruments, poetry, and minimal granular synthesis used in maximalist form.
A ritual soundscape blending Armenian instruments, poetry, and minimal granular synthesis used in maximalist form.
By Anna Sakhlyan
A multi-channel sound installation, an anxious search, a never-ending attempt to connect with the collective work that was happening during recent weeks.
A multi-channel sound installation, an anxious search, a never-ending attempt to connect with the collective work that was happening during recent weeks.
Sound & Music Compilation Presentation
Music makers shaped infinite soundscapes through generative scores — rooted in time, place, and the cosmic pulse of Terterian’s 3rd Symphony.
Visitors were welcome to sit in the room and listen — the music was made for that.
Music makers shaped infinite soundscapes through generative scores — rooted in time, place, and the cosmic pulse of Terterian’s 3rd Symphony.
Visitors were welcome to sit in the room and listen — the music was made for that.
participants
"Notations is a place where all of us are humans"
"I used to fear sharing my ideas. What if no one would understand the way I see it in my mind? However, only after working together, I understood that this is the whole point"
"I used to fear sharing my ideas. What if no one would understand the way I see it in my mind? However, only after working together, I understood that this is the whole point"
"What surprised me the most was how different artistic perspectives could connect so naturally, and how ideas I wouldn’t have discovered alone emerged through the exchange between music, visuals, and movement."
"As an artist, I started to feel more open and confident when it comes to working with media and technologies. Each of my ideas now gets a more voluminous expression in space"
"I would love to see contemporary music and arts involving more people of all ages! The festival was full of people and artists from all over, all ages, all identities. An absolutely beautiful scene, I’ve never seen in Austria. The laboratory was able to do this, and we all learned from each other. This knowledge is going to stay with us for a while!"
"What I truly loved was the organic process of immersion. No one overloaded us with lectures or forced tours. Instead, the local guys shared their stories with such openness – random street conversations, talks with Philharmonic staff – it was a beautiful immersion into the context. It felt like living within the culture, not observing it from the outside."
"I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with musicians playing acoustic instruments, to record their masterful playing of national instruments: kamancha, duduk. This immediately gives authenticity to the composition and totally changes my approach and method of working on tracks"
Black Babette
Musician, Sound Designer
Ash Ghazar
Musician, Performer
Fe
Sound Artist, Musician
Haig Gragian
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer, Audio Engineer
Andrea Laudante
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer
Arash Azadi
Composer
Ani Galstyan
Visual Artist, Printmaker
Anna Kalenchyan
Visual Artist
Anika Ariana Hernandez Vera
Musician, Performer
Arman Mkrtchyan
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer
Argam Hakobyan
Musician, Performer, Sound Designer
Eliza Baghdiyan
Musician, Designer
Blue Pencil
Visual Artist
Davit Aydiyan
Musician, Performer
Sasha Deeva
Visual Artist, Animator
Emma Bayer
Musician, Sound Artist
Evgeny Kazenkov
Musician, Performer
Gayane Aslanyan
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer
Gennady Agadzhanyan
Visual Artist
Grigor Budaghyan
Musician
Hasmik Hakobyan
Musician, Composer, Performer
Hayk Simonyan
Musician
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan
Musician, Sound Engineer
Katerina Klitonchik
Performer, Animation Artist
Larka Danielyan
Musician
Levon Yerkanyan
Musician, Composer, Performer
Lilia Voskanyan Artyomi
Musician
Luiza Khechoyan
Visual Artist
Lusine MLKÉ-Galstian
Musician, Performer
Emilya Nikoghosyan
Multimedia Artist
Mar Margaryan
Musician, Composer, Sound Designer
Mikayel Bektashyan
Musician
Mileta Gazanchyan
Musician, Composer
Nadya Xyxu
Musician, Composer, Visual Artist, Sound Designer, Technology/Programmer, Light, Stage Design, 3D Printing
Napoleon Poghosyan
Composer, Musician, Performer
Naré Davtyan
Musician
Romen Tsaturyan
Visual Artist
Nikola Chen
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer
Anna Kichigina
Visual Artist, Animator
Nino Giorgadze
Visual Artist, Technology/Programmer
Raf Tadevossian
Visual Artist
Roma Ricaai
Musician, Performer, Sound Designer, Technology/Programmer
Samvel Avetisyan
Musician
Simona Markevich
Musician, Composer, Performer, Sound Designer
Smbat Kirakosyan
Musician, Composer, Sound Designer
Taisiia Suvorova
Visual Artist
Theresa Markossian
Musician, Performer
Vahe Abrahamyan
Musician, Composer, Sound Designer
Shahane Harutyunyan
Painter
Yasmin Rai
Composer, Technology/Programmer
Yelena Nersesyan
Visual Artist
Gohar Solkaryan
Musician
Varduhi Mirzoyan
Musician, Performer
Anna Sakhlyan
Sound Artist
Hayk Simonyan
Musician, Performer
Vahe Abrahamyan
Musician, Composer, Sound Designer
mentors
Shhau
Shhau is an artist working across music production, sound design, and education, active in Yerevan’s contemporary music scene since 2012. His practice merges experimental electronic music, philosophy, and narrative-driven composition, while maintaining strong ties to the jazz community through ongoing collaborations. Over the past decade, he has produced and co-produced three full-length albums and worked with prominent rock and hip-hop artists as a producer, drum programmer, and mixing engineer. Alongside his artistic work, he teaches music production and sound design, and is a co-founder of Mansard, a multidisciplinary creative studio uniting music, visual art, and photography.
Dima Ustinov
Over the past 20 years, Dima has been active across multiple areas of the music field, including live performance with his own band, DJing, organizing parties and music festivals, music education and mentoring, as well as producing original tracks and remixes. Today, his practice centers around two main directions: performing live electroacoustic music for piano and synthesizers, and creating interactive, immersive musical experiences for audiences. He also serves as Music Dean of the online education platform Journey, contributing to the development of new approaches in contemporary music learning.
Seda Grigoryan
Seda is a cultural leader and media professional working at the intersection of storytelling, cultural policy, and advocacy. With an MA in Film Production from the University of West London, she was part of CivilNet from its founding and later became the first Head of the Creative Europe Desk in Armenia, supporting access to European cultural networks and funding. Today, she leads ASA – Advocacy Society for the Arts, focusing on building a sustainable ecosystem for artistic expression in Armenia. Alongside her institutional work, she develops experimental video and installation projects.
Artyom Naghdyan
Artyom Naghdyan is a musician, sound specialist, and cultural producer, currently serving as CEO of the State Philharmonia of Armenia. He leads the technical direction of major events including Yerevan Jazz Fest, HighFest, and the Yerevan Book Festival. Trained in cello and sound design in Armenia, the United States, and at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles, he has worked across concerts, films, and large-scale festivals, integrating music, technology, and collaborative production. His approach centers on building meaningful connections between people, places, and ideas through thoughtfully produced cultural projects.
Andriesh Gandrabur
Composer, sound designer, and educator working at the intersection of sound art, media, and performance. Founder of the Sound Art and Sound Design program at HSE School of Design.
Hayk Karoyi
Hayk Karoyi is a musician and sound artist working between traditional instrumentation and experimental electronics. A graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory, he co-founded the bands Room 118 and Goght, performing internationally across Asia and Europe. Since 2017, he has developed an electronic music practice presented at festivals including Terraforma, Signal, and Stihia. He also composes for film and interdisciplinary projects, and in 2024 co-founded the sound-based app Tanuma.
Andronik Khachiian
Artist and curator across bio art, performance, and sound. He has led interdisciplinary laboratories and curated exhibitions in Europe, Mexico, and Armenia.
Aram Hovhannisyan
Aram is a composer of contemporary music active on both local and international stages, collaborating with leading festivals, ensembles, and soloists. Since 2017, he has directed the Crossroads Festival and founded Ensemble Assonance in Yerevan, contributing to the development of Armenia’s contemporary music scene. Since 2018, he has been affiliated with the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, where he serves as Vice-Rector for Academic and International Affairs and teaches composition.
Daria Sadovnikova
Daria is a multidisciplinary artist working with video, sound, installation, and set design. With a background in painting and film production design, she creates video artworks, soundscapes, and spatial projects that combine moving image, collage, and audio. Her practice focuses on building immersive environments that connect visual storytelling with sound.
Karina Malik
In 2015, she began her artistic career as an architect and model maker, but since 2019, she has shifted her focus to set design and work with materials and objects. Today, she works as an art director, creating a visual environment through installations and decorations of any scale and complexity.
Kai Khachatryan
A Yerevan-based sound artist and experimental musician working between underground culture and electro-acoustic research. Active in punk bands since 2002 and producing experimental music since 2010, his practice centers on field recordings and electromagnetic sounds captured with self-built devices. Focused on timbral transformation rather than structural change, he preserves the raw authenticity of street and acoustic environments. His work often draws on psychological themes, translating complex mental states into immersive sonic forms.
Misak Samokatian
Misak Samokatian is an artist, musician, and art director. He has been involved in the field of interactive, kinetic, and audio-visual installations since 2011. As an artist, he works with light, sound, video, space, and time.
Tigran Toti
Music band’s Katuner Armenian Navy band Creator of Dialog project The head of Artsakh state jazz orchestra
Yura Boguslavsky
Yura is an animation director, animator, scriptwriter, producer, and educator, as well as the co-founder of the Invisible Friends creative team and Tsekh Animacii studio. A graduate of SHAR Animation School (2009–2011), he has been creating animation since the age of eight and teaching it since eighteen. Since 2010, he has led animation workshops internationally, working with participants across Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, France, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Israel, and beyond. His practice combines artistic production with a strong commitment to education and the development of young animators.
Yuriy Avdeev
Yuriy is an artist working with objects, space, and installation at the intersection of art, engineering, and design. He began studying artistic material processing technology in 2010 and spent several years working across industries, gaining extensive experience in materials, equipment, advertising displays, props, and large-scale three-dimensional environments. From 2019 to 2022, he ran an independent workshop in Moscow focused on spatial design and artistic installations. Now based in Yerevan, he operates a small-scale production studio and is a member of the Gesamt set design team, developing scenography, installations, exhibition architecture, and experimental spatial solutions for cultural and commercial projects.
Robert Poghosyan
Robert is an artist, musician, and researcher whose practice combines material experimentation with sound-based exploration. Drawing on years of hands-on experience with diverse materials, he develops installations and performances that translate conceptual ideas into tangible forms. His multidisciplinary approach allows him not only to realize his own artistic visions but also to collaborate closely with other artists, supporting the technical and creative realization of their projects. Through sound and spatial interventions, he has contributed to several collaborative artworks that bridge research and artistic production.
Gevorg Grigoryan / dob_
Gevorg is a multimedia artist and creative technologist working with music, audiovisual performance, digital installations, and theater production. Since 2012, he has developed and presented multimedia projects in Armenia and internationally, combining tools such as TouchDesigner, Blender, and Adobe Suite with strong project management and art direction. He is the founder of “di.” studio, focusing on immersive digital environments and technology-driven artistic experiences.
Petros Goroyan
Sound Engineer
Vardan Harutyunyan
A Yerevan-born composer, pianist, and electro-acoustic artist working across contemporary composition, improvisation, and sound ecology. A graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory, he founded SoundLab Gyumri and the Contemporary Sound Orchestra, and co-created the project *Soundpath*, presented at NPAK’s Alternative Festival. His research-driven practice explores resonance, overtones, and wave physics, linking sound with ecological and social systems.
Tigran Araqelyan
Tigran Arakelyan is an accomplished artist with over a decade of experience in animation and cinema. Graduating from "Hakob Kojoyan" art school in 2009 and later earning an Art Direction degree from "Yerevan State University of Theatre and Cinematography" in 2013, he began his career early. Co-founding OnOff Studio in 2018, Tigran has led the creation of artistic project and his detbute animated film is "ZAKO," where he explores innovative VR technologies to push creative boundaries.
Shoghakat MLKÉ-Galstian
Arts manager, choreographer, actress - dancer and educator. As Creative Director of MIHR Contemporary Dance Theatre, she helped shape Armenia’s contemporary movement scene and its distinctive “Music of Movement” language.
Karen Vardanyan
Karen is a lighting designer, that has been working with this form for the past 20 years. His range of work includes concerts, dance performances, festivals, outdoor events, corporate events, film and video shoots, broadcasting events.
community
This hosq Community Mapping is a living, interactive tool — a dynamic map of artists, curators, and collaborators engaged in the hosq ecosystem. You can explore practitioners across diverse disciplines, skill sets, and instruments, and discover unexpected connections between them.
Notations continues this year, as we prepare the next edition of the laboratory and public program, with an open call coming soon.
partners
CYFEST
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC) after Komitas was founded in 1921 as a music studio and re-founded two years later as a higher musical education institution.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
Armenian National Music Organization was founded by Tigran Keshishyan, Sergey Umroyan and Astghik Martirosyan on May 7, 2013.
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
The State Philharmonia of Armenia
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
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