In February 2006, Pomegranate Music/World Music Management’s Raffi Meneshian was appointed Executive Director of the Boston-based non-profit foundation YerazArt. Funded by Noubar Afeyan and Raffi Festekjian, YerazArt’s mission was to provide professional guidance, support, and exposure for young talented musicians from Armenia. Meneshian created the model for the program throughout his three year tenure by building a threefold structure. First, YerazArt concertized throughout North America including such prestigious halls as the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Alex Theater in Glendale, CA, and Houston’s Maybee Theater. Next, the selected YerazArt participants were connected to educational institutions in the United States such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, Longy School of Music, and Los Angeles’ Colburn Conservatory of Music. Finally, media initiatives were spearheaded in the United States to promote the YerazArt program including the widely heralded expose on Public Radio International/WGBH/BBC’s “The World” hosted by Marco Werman on April 27, 2007 reaching over 1 million listeners via podcasts, satellite radio, and terrestrial radio. Raffi Meneshian left YerazArt in January of 2009 to pursuit other interests.
Please visit “The World” produced by the BBC and PRI at www.pri.org/theworld
