A concert dedicated to St. Gregory of Narek took place in Riga Cathedral Thursday within the framework of the Armenian Days organized by the Armenian Embassy of Latvia  (residence in Vilnius).

The concert was attended by former president of Latvia Guntis Ulmanis, representatives of different Latvian agencies, ambassadors accredited in Latvia, Deputy Culture Minister of Armenia, Nerses Ter-Vardanyan, Spiritual Pastor of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Baltic countries, Priest Ter Khosrov Stepanyan, Armenian and Latvian public figures, etc.

Armenian Ambassador to Latvia Tigran Mkrtchyan and Priest Ter Khosrov Stepanyan spoke at the opening of the concert. 

In his speech, Ambassador Mkrtchyan touched on St. Gregory of Narek’s Book of Lamentations, noting that St. Gregory was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Francis in 2015.

“Two days ago the presentation of the Latvian translation of Gregory of Narek’s Book of Lamentations took place, followed by a photo exhibition of Medieval Armenian Churches. On the next day an international conference opened representing Gregory of Narek and his work as a bridge between East and West. 
Today we have this beautiful, and in many ways, unprecedented, concert dedicated to Narekatsi as a conclusion to the days of the culture of Armenia in Latvia. Through all these events we pursue the aim of presenting the contribution of Armenian culture to universal Christian civilization,” Ambassador Mkrtchyan said.

Distinguished Armenian artist Anna Mayilyan, Latvian radio choir led by director Sigvards Kļava performed at the concert.