Serj Tankian.
Serj Tankian, frontman of the world famous rock band System of a Down, shared the music video for a symphonic piece titled “100 Years,” which he co-composed with John Psathas. The video is dedicated to the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian victims of the first genocide of the 20th century.
On his Facebook page, Tankian wrote: “Some of you have already heard the composition ‘100 Years’ that I co-composed with my good friend John Psathas. Here is a video we edited that features the musicians who actually helped us record this somber commemoration to honor the Armenian, Greek and Assyrians victims of the first genocide of the 20th century.”
Tankian and Psathas wrote “100 Years” for the centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The symphonic composition premiered on September 20, 2014 at the Lark Musical Society at the prestigious Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
The video opens with a duduk solo and words rolling down the screen: “This video is dedicated to all those fighting for truth, recognition and justice for the first genocide of the 20th century and all subsequent genocides,” it reads, followed by a brief text overview of the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian suffering at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. “The government of Turkey refuses to admit that the country’s forefathers strategically committed this planned genocide despite scores of evidence, testimonials, international condemnation and recognition,” it continues to read. The video also features images of the genocide and archival scripts.
System of a Down’s “Wake Up the Souls” tour began on April 6 in the U.S. city of Inglewood, California. The second concert was held in London on April 10, followed by Cologne, Germany on April 13, then Lyon, France on April 14. A concert will be held in Brussels, Belgium today, Amsterdam, Netherlands tomorrow April 17 and Moscow on April 20. The band will conclude their tour with a free performance in Yerevan’s Republic Square on April 23 at 20h00 for the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide centennial. This will be the band’s first ever performance in Armenia.
