Alexander Arutiunian was born on 2 September 1920 in Yerevan, where he received his education (he later completed his training under Genrikh Litinsky in Moscow in the period 1946–48). During the fifty years of his composing career Arutiunian has written a large number of instrumental concertos, rhapsodies, poems for piano, violin and cello, flute, oboe, female voice and orchestra, and also the first Armenian concertos for brass instruments: the trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. As a result of his interest in brass instruments, he wrote his Armenian Sketches quintet that became a repertory piece. His vocal and orchestral works has strengthened the international acclaim accorded to him. Arutiunian holds titles including Professor of Composition of the Conservatoire of Yerevan, People’s Artist of 1 ashug: a Caucasian folk singer and poet
© 1997 Svetlana Sarkisyan
Alexander Arutiunian was born on 2 September 1920 in Yerevan, where he received his education (he later completed his training under Genrikh Litinsky in Moscow in the period 1946–48). During the fifty years of his composing career Arutiunian has written a large number of instrumental concertos, rhapsodies, poems for piano, violin and cello, flute, oboe, female voice and orchestra, and also the first Armenian concertos for brass instruments: the trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. As a result of his interest in brass instruments, he wrote his Armenian Sketches quintet that became a repertory piece. His vocal and orchestral works has strengthened the international acclaim accorded to him. Arutiunian holds titles including Professor of Composition of the Conservatoire of Yerevan, People’s Artist of 1 ashug: a Caucasian folk singer and poet
© 1997 Svetlana Sarkisyan
“Honoured Artist of Russia”, first prize winner at every international competition she participated in, Ludmila Berlinskaya played on the most prestigious stages in the world, including the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore, Barbican and Royal Albert Halls in London, la Fenice in Venice, the Royal Academy of Brussels, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the City Hall of Hong Kong, St. Petersburg Philharmony and all major halls of Moscow, where she grew up. She is regularly invited to prestigious festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, Colmar, Auvers sur Oise, Aix en Provence, Evian, Kuhmo, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Orlando, Stavanger, Portogruaro Festivals etc.
Military attacks have alarming consequences on our ecosystem. Radioactive contaminated landscapes, many millions of tons of ammunition in our oceans, toxic landscapes, ten percent of global carbon emissions - the military footprint is huge. From WWI until today, nature is under fire. What does a war mean to our ecosystem and how is the global eco-balance affected? Can a modern war be eco-friendly? What does it mean when a military machinery is put into motion, what resources are needed and how much are used? A search around the globe and through history: The battlefields of World War I are the birthplaces of modern Ecocide. In Norway and Russia a Soviet submarine officer introduces us to one of the best kept cold war secrets: the nuclear complex. In Vietnam scientists laborate on the half a century old dioxin contamination caused by Agent Orange. On the Canadian coastline a Remotely Operated Vehicle leads us to toxic hotspots on the seafloor. In the Baltic Sea we find a German shipwreck loaded with chemical weapons. And a paradise island in the Caribbean gives shocking testimony of five decades of military training. FOOTRPINTS OF WAR is a film about two antagonist logics: the logic of strength and fight versus the logic of life and balance.