Alain Mikli (born Alain Miklitarian in Beirut, Lebanon on April 1, 1955) is a French-Armenian designer of high-end handmade eyeglasses and accessories. Mikli’s line features unique colors and shapes, and are a favorite among European celebrities and avant-garde Americans. Mikli claims his use of color is inspired by his Armenian-Lebanese heritage.

In the late 1970’s a 22 year old Armenian in France, recently qualified as an optician, decided that the frames he was selling were so uninspiring that he had no choice other than to design his own. In 1978, Mikli opened his design studio in Paris. By 1983, celebrities like Elton John helped bring the line recognition by wearing and touting Mikli products. Kanye West wore Alain Mikli sunglasses in his music video, Stronger, which he specifically requested from the designer. This style of sunglasses has become a wide phenomenon, usually being referred to as “shutter shades”. Around 500,000 pairs of Mikli glasses have been sold worldwide.

This photo is from Alain Mikli’s exclusive photosession in Yerevan.

The Armenian priemiere of Robert Guediguian’s new film “The Army of Crime” will take place on November 29. The Army of Crime (L’Armée du crime) tells the story of a group of resistance fighters in Paris in the second world war, called the Manouchian group, after the name of one of the leaders. At an early screening in Marseille, Robert Guediguian, the director, stated that this group, composed of young people of all nationalities and backgrounds, could still be an inspiration to us in 2009.

A violin pupil of Yuri Yankilevich at the Moscow Conservatory, Pavel Kogan won 1st prize in the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki at the age of 18 (1970). This led to engagements in recital and as soloist with the world’s leading orchestras of Russia, Europe, Japan, and the United State. Thereafter, he appeared regularly as a violinist in concerts on tour all over the globe, both on his own and together with each of his illustrious parents.

As a conducting pupil of Ilya Musin and Leo Ginsburg, at the age of 22 (1974) the young Maestro gave his debut with Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently focused more on conducting. In the years that followed, at the invitation of the great conductors of the USSR, including Mravinsky, Svetlanov and Kondrashin, Pavel Kogan conducted the leading Soviet Orchestras both at home and on tour abroad. He is now considered one of the top conductors in Russia, appearing frequently with the leading orchestras of Europe and the United States. Kogan also appears regularly at such festivals as Helsinki, Dubrovnik, Montreaux, Lugano, Locarno, Merano, Munich, Flanders, and Saint-Requier. In 1988, as conductor of the Bolshoi Opera, Kogan opened the 1988-1989 season with a new production of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” and the same year he became the head of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1998-2005 he served as principal guest conductor of the Utah State Symphony Orchestra.

Concert of Moscow State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Kogan took place in Yerevan on November 25, 2009.

Robert Amirkhanyan was born on November 16, 1939 in Yerevan. Since 1991, he has been the Head of Composers’ Union of Armenia. Amirkhanyan has composed music for 16 feature films and about 30 cartoons. He is also a Professor at Yerevan State Conservatory. In 1998, Amirkhanyan was awarded with St. Mesrop Mashtots order.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Painter and photographer Samvel Sevada turns 60 this year. Samvel Sevada’s anniversary was celebrated by exhibit of his works, organized by Armenian Painters’ Union (APU) and HayArt Cultural Center.

Congratulating the artist, APU chairman Karen Aghamyan noted: “Samvel Sevada’s sunny works made our day brighter. Kindness and humanity shine through every painting and photo of the artist.”
As Samvel Sevada told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, the exhibition was dedicated to his mother. “This might be the reason people note brightness and kindness in my works,” he said.
The event also featured Samvel Sevada’s photoalbum presentation. The album includes 200 artistic photos and 30 poems, some of them authored by Sevada.