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Armenia participated as the Country of Honour of 2015 in prestigious international musical festival MIDEM, which took place on 5-8 June in Cannes. The participation of the Armenian delegation in the festival was a part of the Armenian Genocide Centennial events and was sponsored by Pro Art and Tashir Group. 

Panorama.am correspondent in Cannes Nvard Chalikyan has conducted a series of interviews with MIDEM organizers and participants, which Panorama.am will present to your attention in the follow-up to MIDEM.

Below is the second part of the interview with President and CEO of Reed MIDEM Mr. Paul Zilk.

See the first part here.

Part 2

- Mr. Zilk, for you as non-Armenian, from among different genres of music what is more interesting to hear from Armenia?

- That is always very personal, and me being a music lover, I really love all genres of music. I was very touched by the performance of what’s called ethno jazz – basically jazz-inspired music but played with some traditional Armenian instruments and lyrics, which for me is very touching and emotional, and conveys a spirit, a soul of the country and of the artists themselves that is truly unique. I must also mention the State Jazz Band and the State Youth Orchestra. But I can’t choose one because I think there’re so many that have worth to it. What attracts as such is the uniqueness of the music.

Now with digital distribution, the internet, there is a possibility to enable people all over the world to discover music from other parts of the world that they would normally have not had access to. So I think that’s very positive for a particular country like Armenia that otherwise would have to have difficult time accessing large international audiences. Now the technology will enable that to happen, and then the artistic talent will really have no other chance but to succeed, as it deserves to.

- Did you know anything about Armenia before?

- Yes, of course. I grew up in America which has a wide variety of nationalities and ethnicities; I had Armenian friends as a child, but I didn’t know too much about Armenia’s music I will confess, although there were great composers and film scores, also Charles Aznavour… my mother liked Charles Aznavour and his music, so I was delighted years later in 2009, when we had Charles Aznavour here at MIDEM and we presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award – that was a bit of a dream for me, because afterwards I shared it with my mother that I had met with Aznavour; and he was present at this MIDEM too as a VIP guest of Armenia. This was really wonderful.

One of the interesting things in the Armenian presentation in this MIDEM is that through various means – through the presence of the members of the Armenian delegation, through films, books and other promotional materials on the Armenian stand in the Palais des Festivals, the tremendous diversity of Armenian art and culture as such has been illustrated. In fact people are discovering even more that many scientists, famous athletes, famous people of culture are Armenian, which they didn’t know before. In this regard the movie We are Armenians was fantastic! 

- And my last question is about the global musical trends of the 21st century. Who today decides what is ‘good music’ as such? We see that the music industry nowadays is filled with commercial music that is short-lived; it’s so to say not lasting. In the previous century for instance there were a lot of stars and bright names (like the Beatles, the Queen, etc.) that shaped the musical taste of whole generations. Why do you think we don’t have these kinds of names today (or don’t have it to that extent)?

- It is a very interesting question. Actually we have the opportunity now to discover stars that may be there but before never had an opportunity to be known. In the past there wasn’t a universal access and there weren’t opportunities for artists all over the world to even be heard, and big stars were made in other ways. They were potentially enforced by larger countries where particular music stars were showcased over particular channels, like radio channels. Now with digital music there are opportunities for anyone to access and to get the taste of music of any kind and style from any country. I actually think that provides opportunity for the future of music.

I don’t think that the success of music in the future should be measured by the number of big hits that the entire world followed. I’m not sure that the world wants to follow the same music; I think individuals, peoples, people who share the same kinds of interests will probably be able to follow and satisfy their passions for what they like, for what resonates and creates emotions in them. So I think the future of music will be more about people being able to enjoy and truly appreciate the music that resonates with them personally, that makes them feel emotional and happy, rather than very popular music on planetary basis.

- So everything is going to be more and more personalized and less ‘world famous’?

- I believe it will become more and more personalized, and technology enables that – that is great for many more small artists, that’s great for people with very specialized talent, as up to this point maybe that great talent has been hard to find – it’s been hidden, but now there’s an opportunity for that talent to be shared with the world. I think that’s wonderful and it is more interesting than being a top ten hit that everyone in the world knows; the latter I believe will become more and more rare.

In conclusion I must say that we can’t wait to see Armenia back in MIDEM again. There are many formats in which Armenia can participate in future and it will always have its place at MIDEM. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of MIDEM and we want Armenian music here, because it truly deserves a place in the international community of music.

- Thank you, Mr. Zilk. I am sure Armenia too will be looking forward to it.

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan