Public Lecture: Mozart, the Major Minor

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YEREVAN, Armenia— On January 27, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) hosted Araks Shahinyan for the second time within the scope of a monthly series of public lectures on discovering the beauty of classical music. The topic for the second lecture was Mozart–the most popular yet seldom thoroughly discussed composer in the world.

The speech aimed at presenting the audience Mozart as more than merely a child prodigy who died young. According to the lecturer, Mozart’s huge musical oeuvre has a lot of disguised gems that are almost never exposed to the audience at classical music concerts or recordings. During the lecture, attendees were given a chance to hear some excellent unpopular Mozart. Ms. Shahinyan’s musical, historical, and psychological analysis of these pieces aimed at broadening audience’s view on music and grant a gratifying intellectual experience to understand it.

Born in Yerevan, Ms. Shahinyan graduated with excellence from Yerevan State Linguistic University after V. Brusov in 2009 and the Political Sciences & International Affairs program of AUA in 2012. Her further studies include the TFAS International study abroad program at the American Institute of Political and Economic Systems at Charles University (Prague). As an enthusiast of broad interests, Araks has participated in a number of international conferences throughout her studies, writing research papers and presenting topics from fine arts to literature, classical music, and political science. She also maintains an Armenian language blog “Bagatelles” on the philosophy and aesthetics of classical music aiming to increase the awareness of the importance of high art in society.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.