To: Parish Priests, Parish Council Chairpersons, Choir Chairpersons, Choir Leaders, Organists
From: Dr Socrates Boyajian, Chair, AACCA Central Council
Date: February 22, 1997
Subject: Announcements
The host of the 52nd Annual Assembly - Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Cambridge, MA - did an excellent job in providing an atmosphere that allowed our organization to do some soul searching and address some of the basic issues we have to deal with. In 1999, it is the goal of the Central Council to address the issues and needs that were discussed at the 52nd Annual Choir Assembly. We thank Rev. Fr Mampre Kouzouian and the Choir Assembly Committee of Holy Trinity Armenian Church for their hard work. The minutes of the 52nd Annual Assembly will be sent out with the next Central Council bulletin, scheduled for the first week of March 1999. The details of the wrap up of the 52nd Annual Assembly will be addressed in that bulletin. I see1999 as a year of great opportunity for the Association of Armenian Church Choirs of America. As for the 1999 Annual Assembly . . .
The parish of St James Armenian Church of Richmond, VA, has come forward and offered to host the 53rd Annual Assembly of the Choir Association. This will be the site of the 53rd Annual Assembly. The first weekend of November 1999 is the current target date for the 53rd Annual Assembly. The Central Council is looking forward to working with Very Rev Fr Nareg Berberian and the Choir Assembly Committee of St James Armenian Church.
In the spirit of the St James Armenian Church, I think we need to think ahead to the Choir Assembly site of the Year 2000. Parishes that are interested in making a bid for this event are encouraged to contact the Central Council as soon as possible.
To date the Central Council has had four meetings. Three have been Saturday morning conference calls from 8:30-9:30am, the first Saturday of each month. One meeting was held in New York in the Diocese complex. Check out our website and keep in tune to the activities of the Central Council.
Visit our webite at on the Internet http://www.erols.com/sograd/aacca
We hope to eventually use our website as the primary means of communication with our membership. All relevant items (such as this bulletin) can be found on our website. The latest development on our website is CBT - Computer Based Training. We can use the Internet as a means for our membership to study our church services. . . You can see the music . . . You can hear the music . . . You can hear specific parts to the music (like the soprano part . . . alto . . . ) . . . You can sing along with the music . . . You can print the music so that you can use it in church . . . You can exchange ideas with each other on the music through feedback forums . . . More to come on this subject . . .
The new officers of the Central Council of the AACCA - 1999 have been ratified by the Primate and the Diocesan Council. Please feel free to communicate with us directly for your choirıs needs.
With great sadness, I must also report to you that we have lost a member of the Central Council - Norman Noorjanian. He passed away in November 1998 shortly after the 52nd Choir Assembly. Norman had been part of the AACCA for many years. Besides losing a hard working individual, whose presence was a significant factor to the existence and success of the AACCA, we have lost a friend, a father figure, a brother, and a life long servant of the Armenian Church. I met Norman in 1984 when the Choir Assembly was held in my home parish of St Mary Armenian Church in Washington DC. Since that date, he has always been on my ³list². It was always a pleasure to meet with him. He let you know in his own way that working for the church was the right thing to do.
The Central Council has expressed condolences to Normanıs surviving family. The next issue of The Voice will be dedicated to, and will feature, Norman. The materials dedicated to Norman in The Voice will also be distributed to the Armenian newspapers for publication. The Central Council is actively working on putting together an AACCA proposal for a method of a long range memorialization of Norman Noorjanian for his contributions. We invite your toughts and feelings on this. We have all been touched by Norman. We all want to do something meaningful for Norman.
Note: Mary Selvinazian, Central Council alternate per the election results of the 52nd Annual Assembly, will be completing Norman Noorjanianıs remaining term.