History, Memory, Voice, Song By Mariam Matossian, as told to World Pulse Assistant Editor Corine Milano I want to inspire people with my music, my storytelling. I love sharing my family's story and the history of my culture. I love to communicate that idea of hope. Both my grandmother and my grandfather survived the Armenian genocide, and somehow she still sang... I want to share that with as many people as possible. I was brought up in a household filled with music. The seeds were planted at a very young age, but music didn't become a part of my professional life until I visited Armenia for the second time. I had previously been there in 1998—the first in my family to step foot in the homeland since my grandparents were forcibly deported in 1915. In 2002 I returned to Yerevan to spend three months working with very poor and orphaned children. When I returned from that second trip, I was overwhelmed with a need to raise awareness of the beauty of the Armenian culture and the pain that exists there. I distinctly remember when I realized the impact music can have on the world. I was working at a center for at-risk youth in Armenia, and we were having a party with the children. I took my demo CD of old Armenian folk songs with me and we were all dancing and singing. The children had these beautiful, innocent, spontaneous reactions to the music. That moment was so beautiful. I remember thinking, "Lord, I need to do something more with this." After I returned to Vancouver, I found a producer and began to seriously pursue my music. These children taught me some of the songs on my first album, Far From Home. It was such a fantastic experience. Face to face with these beautiful, innocent children who have nothing but are filled with joy, I was struck with how much we take for granted. I wanted to tell their stories but I also wanted to somehow link it to my own family, to my grandmother's story. It came full circle for me. I knew I could use my music to share my grandmother's story and link it to these children's stories. My grandmother, also named Mariam, passed away long before I was born. Still, she has been a huge influence on my life and my music. She was among the many who were deported during the 1915 Armenian Genocide. After my great-grandfather died in the death march, my great-grandmother made the painstaking decision to place her two youngest children, my grandmother among them, in an orphanage to be educated while she worked. In Armenia, spending time with children who had been surrendered by their parents in much the same way, it came full circle for me. I knew I could use my music to share my grandmother's story and link it to these children's stories. "Narineh": Tradition Meets Action It is important to me to connect my music to my history—many of the songs I sing are those my grandmother taught to my mother, who then taught them to me. Now my mother and I have a partnership when it comes to choosing which songs to include on the albums. Much of Armenian folk music celebrates the beauty of the country. Far From Home is about missing the homeland—about our personal definitions of home. But for In the Light, I chose some of the Armenian love songs my grandmother sang. I recorded that album in the months leading up to my wedding, and I just loved the special connection I felt with my grandmother when I sang the songs that she sang, the songs I know she loved. "The children who inspired me, who taught me so much..." Now, as I am getting ready to be a mother, I find that expecting my first child has added so much to my music, to the words I'm singing. There's this new dimension, a new generation: my grandmother, my mother, me, and now, this new little baby. It's been so exciting and emotional; it definitely heightens in me the desire to spread awareness of our cultural history. There's this new dimension, a new generation: my grandmother, my mother, me, and now, this new little baby. I want to preserve the folk songs, to reintroduce this beautiful, traditional music to the world. But I also know that music is more than tradition. It is also a vehicle that I can use to raise awareness about violence happening all over the world. I wrote the song called "Narineh" about a young Armenian girl who went missing in Iraq—the niece of a dear family friend. I want people to know Narineh's story—I don't want her to be forgotten. In the song, a mother calls out to her daughter, longing for her to be found. I repeat Narineh's name as a way to remember her. I want audience members to know that children are still being victimized today. I want everyone to know in hopes that even one person listening will be compelled to act in some way. Visit Mission Armenia to learn how you can help women and children in Mariam's homeland. In the Light is available in Canadian stores now. You may also purchase it online at CDBaby.com. You'll find Mariam's first album, Far From Home, available there too. Visit Mariam on MySpace. Read her online journal.