The Voices of ‘Zulal’

When the a cappella trio “Zulal” (meaning clear water in Armenian) first performed in the Chicagoland area in the fall of 2004 at Sts. Joachim and Anne Armenian Apostolic Church in Palos Heights, I was captivated by the artistry with which the singers Teni Apelian, Yeraz Markarian, and Anais Tekerian presented Armenian folk songs to the audience. With each song, the trio not only brought to life the songs of our ancestors but for a brief while we, the audience, were transported back to another time—as the singers described, “a simpler time.” In the winter of 2011, they again performed in Chicago, at the AGBU Chicago Armenian Humanities Festival. In May 2015, the trio performed in Washington, D.C., at the National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, and this past summer, they once again performed in Chicago, this time at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church. Songs sung in the various regions of historic and present-day Armenia, as well as in Javakhk, Georgia, reverberated through the church hall—songs such as “Tsolak and Shogher” by Komitas, “Akh Nino” (Van/Vaspurakan), “Kele Lao” (Talin), “Ha Nina” (Moush/Poulanouk), “Tamzara (Palu, Dikranakert), “Lachin” (Basen, Shirak Province, present-day Armenia), “Vai Leh [Yana Yana]” (Javakhk, Georgia). As I listened to the stories that introduced the songs, and then to the songs, and as I watched the manner in which the trio sang them—with such spirit, grace, and heart—I thought: Traveling from city to city, these singers are our modern-day ashoogh(s).