Armenian Cultural Agenda * (on FB) - In this group we share Armenian Cultural Heritage Information and we spread the word about Armenian cultural news and events that take place all over the world. Post your cultural events and invite friends who would be interested. Please avoid posts of commercial nature. (974 fans as of Oct 2018)
Hamazkayin Family
Hamakzayin – Central Office ||| Hamazkayin USA Western Region ||| Hamazkayin Boston ||| Hamazkayin Canada ||| Hamazkayin – Syria ||| Hamazkayin – Ashrafieh, Lebanon |||
Hamazkayin – Arshak and Sophie Galstaun School, New South Wales, Australia ||| Hamazkayin – Ani Dance Company, Glendale, CA ||| Hamazkayin – Pakin Issues |||
Hamazkayin Ani Dance Company ||| Hamazkayin “Lucy Tutunjian” Art Gallery ||| Hamazkayin Arshak & Sohpie Galstaun School ||| Hamazkayin M. & H. Arslanian Djemaran |||
Sister Entities
Armenian Relief Society ||| Armenian Revolutionary Federation ||| Homenetmen ||| Armenian National Committee of America ||| Armenian Youth Federation
Onnik Dinkjian Fans, Family & Friends (on FB)* - Please Share Your Pictures or Stories of Onnik.... ~~Son of Dikranagerd~~ He was born Jean-Joseph Miliyan in Paris, France in 1929, the son of Garabed and Zorah from Dikranagerd (Diyarbakir), who both escaped persecution during the genocide. He and his sister, two years his senior, were orphaned five years after his birth. Garabed died when Jean-Joseph was not yet one year old. Onnik first began taking an interest in music when he went to St. Gregory’s Armenian Church in Paris for the first time at the age of 10. They were adopted by his godparents, Nishan and Oghida Dinkjian, who were also from Dikranagerd, and continued to live in Paris. Growing up he learned not only fluent French and Armenian, but also the melodious dialect of Armenians from Dikranagerd. Nishan Dinkjian went to Paris from Aleppo and worked various menial jobs before he fell into the wholesale banana business. When fruit became scarce after the war started in 1939, he went into clothing sales to support his family. ~~The devotion~~ Onnik first began taking an interest in music when he went to St. Gregory’s Armenian Church in Paris for the first time at the age of 10. Every Sunday he would need to take two metro rides to get there. The sacred hymns of the liturgy sung by the choir and soloists aroused something within him that would change his life forever. “I absolutely fell in love with the music,” he said. “This is what brought me into the Armenian Church, not necessarily as a religious person but as a lover of the Armenian music.” ~~New York, Boston, California~~ At the age of 17, in July 1946, Onnik and his family moved to the United States, Nishan Dinkjian’s two sisters had settled. They had been separated during the genocide but desired to live in close proximity with one another. Onnik entered the U.S. with his given name, but would later change it legally to Onnik Dinkjian in honor of his adoptive parents. In 1952, Onnik was drafted into the U.S. Army. In Germany he was assigned to the Winged Victory Chorus, a well-known group led by Joe Baris that performed a wide range of choral works, from composers as diverse as Puccini and Debussy to Rogers and Hammerstein and Irving Berlin. “For a year and a half in Germany all I did was travel from one city to another with some famous American stars, like Eddie Fischer and Danny Kaye, all because of the music, my singing.” When he returned from the army, Onnik opened his own dry cleaning store and married Araksi Maksian (Mghsian) from Lyon, France, whose roots were in Kharpert. They had two children, Anahid and Ara. Excerpts From ONNIK: Portrait of a Legend by Christian Garbis. Published in The Armenian Weekly, November 13, 2012. To read the rest of this article you can click on the following link: http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/11/13/onnik-portrait-of-a-legend/ (713 fans as of Oct 2018)