This past Thursday I had the great privilege of accompanying the great Mr. Timothy Straight, Norway and Finland’s honorary Consul in Armenia, as well as the newlyweds Areen and Sara Ibranossian from Los Angeles, to the ancient village of Talin.  Talin boasts the majestic 7th century Talin Cathedral, a population of about 5,000 people, and some great Peace Corps volunteers – Brian Bokhart and Erica Vendetti – doing fantastic work to develop the skills and economic outlook for the village.  We met many of the women involved in the Talin Doll – Crocheting for Change – project who have hand sown cute, plump dolls dressed in Armenian traditional wear with the promise of investing this money into growing a business for their depressed local economy (as is the case in many Armenian villages) along with a resource center for developed children.  They are in the middle of a fundraising campaign and I would strongly encourage you to consider giving anything you can to this wonderful initiative.  You  an watch a video about the project and learn about more details and contribution perks here: http://www.indiegogo.com/talin-dolls.

We then went to the Talin Music School where the wonderful faculty and students invited me to perform!  Playing solo before an audience without the textures and allure of a brilliant band can be intimidating, but hey, you just have to go for it.  Here’s a brief video clip and some photos from the day!