due to his devotion to Armenian folk music and exceptional talent.

Armenian religious music remained liturgical until Komitas Vardapet introduced polyphony in the end of the 19th century. Apart from his contribution to religious music, Komitas may be considered the founder of modern classical Armenian music. From 1899 to 1910, he travelled through the Armenian highlands and collected more than 3,000 folk tunes many of which he harmonized and transformed into Lieder.

American composer Daniel Decker has achieved critical acclaim for his collaborations with Armenian composer Ara Gevorgian. "Noah's Prayer" (originally entitled "Mush") chronicles Noah's journey to Mount Ararat. "Noah's Prayer" was debuted in 2002 in Sardarapat, Armenia to celebrate Armenian Independence day in the presence of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicosof All Armenians (head of the Armenian Apostolic Church). A second collaboration called "Adana" tells the story of the Armenian Genocide, during which soldiers of the Ottoman Empire forced 1.5 million Armenians into starvation, torture and extermination. As with their first collaboration, Decker wrote the song's epic lyrics to complement the musical landscape of Ara Gevorgian. Cross Rhythms, Europe's leading religious magazine and web portal said of "Adana", "seldom has a disaster of untold suffering produced such a magnificent piece of art."

Jazz

The first jazz-band of Yerevan was founded in 1936. Soviet Jazz was developed by Armenians such as Artemi Ayvazyan, who founded the Armenian State Estrada Orchestra in 1938. The conventional performers in the vocal genre have been: Georgi Minasian, Artashes Avetyan, and Levon Sevan. There are Jazz