Understanding Armenia Through Music
 

We met Elena Goncharova in January at a meeting with newcomers at Repat Armenia. It was then that I realized I wanted to talk to her not about the process of obtaining Armenian citizenship, but to explore deeper layers: how one can sing both Komitas and Russian folklore, what home means, how to integrate into Armenian life without losing one’s identity…
 

In the time that passed before our second meeting, we had managed to discuss concerts in Yerevan, our shared passion for motorcycles, break down the phrase “bari kesor” (good afternoon), and on one good Friday afternoon, meet again in the same place.
 

Elena is a musician who moved to Armenia from Moscow in 2022 together with her husband and two children. Choosing between Georgia and Armenia, they chose Armenia as a country where they would not face a language barrier. But despite this initial reason for their choice, Elena and the children already speak Armenian today: the children attend the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex, while Elena sings Komitas’s works in a choir.
 

“I studied vocals in Moscow, and here I realized that I wanted to sing again and wanted to sing with others. In a music chat for people who had moved here, I saw an announcement from a girl from Saint Petersburg — she had organized a choir and was inviting new members. I have been singing in the Bari choir for four years now; I am probably the only one left from the original lineup. The choir has a mixed repertoire, including Armenian pieces. A few days ago, our concert ‘The Breath of Ararat’ took place at the Aram Khachaturian Museum, where we presented a fully Armenian program — works by Komitas, Barsegh Kanachyan, and spiritual songs were performed. We performed part of this program at Zvartnots Airport as part of one of the programs of the Keron Foundation. As part of this choir, I represented Armenia in Batumi at the Gachukeb International Festival, and I also performed the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia at the National Youth Forum 2025,” the heroine shares.


 

The Bari choir has a multinational lineup: Armenians from different places, Russians, Ukrainians, and a Brazilian — all performing under the Armenian flag, which, as Elena says, is both moving and joyful for them. She admits that when her friends hear her singing in Armenian, they say that in a past life she must have been Armenian: the way she feels the motifs of Armenian music and the way she feels herself in Armenia lead her friends to such thoughts. But despite this, she does not forget her own homeland either, and she tries to preserve her own identity: “I work with Russian culture and folklore, and I want to introduce it to newcomers as well. This is difficult to do even within Russia itself, because this peasant culture was destroyed during the Soviet years through propaganda and other means. I see my mission as preserving the culture of my people and showing it to other people. Everyone preserves this identity in their own way: some sing, some paint, some read or write books.”
 

Lena believes — and her local friends notice this too — that with the arrival of newcomers and emigrants, at least Yerevan has changed: the service has improved, a new quality has appeared, and Armenians welcomed this fresh wave with joy. She is convinced that one must respect the people one lives among and not impose, but offer. And in this context, she considers it her duty to know Armenian and improve it.
 

A Family That Fell in Love with Armenia
 

“People who come here fall into two types: those who fall in love with the country and dissolve into it, and those who dislike something and leave. We belonged to the first category. I never had grandparents, but when I came to Armenia, I had the feeling that all the people around us were like kind grandmothers and grandfathers — they hugged us, fed us, sheltered us. And, of course, I wanted to speak the same language with them, out of respect for the country and the culture. I wanted to learn the language because through language you begin to understand a lot,” Elena says.
 

The heroine believes that people who are in love with Armenia are in love with everything: they feel people, nature, and music deeply; they are open to everything. And then there are people for whom comfort is simply more important: they lack service, reliability, and cannot get used to the fact that in Armenia many things are resolved slowly and steadily. For her family, it is the opposite — they did not come bringing their own samovar, but accepted this mentality.
 

Elena’s family accepted Armenia’s mentality, and Armenia accepted them as its own. The family developed warm relations with their neighbor Susan jan — as the heroine calls her — who, taking on the role of their Armenian grandmother, takes them to her cellar whenever they meet and sends them home with pear compotes and other preserves. For Elena, this is especially valuable, as she never knew any of her grandmothers while they were alive.
 

“We feel at home here. Home is, first of all, family, which has only become stronger during our life here. It is important to remember your homeland and accept the traditions of the country that has accepted you. That is why we try to immerse ourselves in the culture here, to communicate not only with the Russian community, but also to build connections and our own life in a new place. I believe that everything will work out for us.”
 

Interview conducted by Nare Bejanyan

Translation via AI based on the original article in Russian:  Елена, которая поет Комитаса, гимн Армении и русский фольклор