Metszo Production Company Apologizes to Musician Vahan Artsruni

The Metszo Production Company, responsible for organizing the official concert at the opening of the WCIT 2019 conference, has apologized to musician Vahan Artsruni for using his arrangement of the Mesrop Mashtots hymn without prior notice.

“Metszo Production Company officially apologizes to Armenian cultural figure, composer, singer, and musician Vahan Artsruni for presenting a 29-second excerpt of his arrangement of the Mesrop Mashtots hymn during the official concert at the Republic Square on October 6, without informing the composer,” said Kamo Movsesyan, the main producer of the event and company.

“The opening official concert of the WCIT 2019 conference required extensive, prolonged, and responsible work, and the Metszo Production team's approach to organizing such a large-scale and unprecedented event was taken with great responsibility. Nevertheless, a misunderstanding occurred, for which we seek Vahan Artsruni's forgiveness. Going forward, we will be more attentive in our future works to avoid similar oversights. We are pleased that the concert received great responses not only from the Armenian audience but also from international viewers, earning such high appraisal. We are preparing to present even more unprecedented projects to the Armenian audience in the future. Taking this opportunity, I want to thank all the participants and all those who supported the realization of the concert,” he added.

It is worth noting that composer and singer Vahan Artsruni addressed the issue on his Facebook page, mentioning that the music played under the introductory text was his arrangement of the Mashtots hymn, while he was unaware of it and had not granted any permission.