The man was a giant. One of a kind.
This is the information posted on the Girgaosian Funeral home website.
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Ohannes S. Salibian
March 16, 1939 - September 20, 2007
Biography
SALIBIAN, Ohannes S. --- of Belmont September 20, 2007 Beloved husband of Taline (Voskeritchian) Salibian. Devoted father of Tamar Salibian of CA. Dear brother of Nazareth Salibian of CA, Vahram Salibian of Canada, Kohar Salibian of CA and Hasmig Garabedian of Canada. Services at St. Stephen's Armenian Church, 38 Elton Ave., Watertown on Monday, September 24 at 10:00 a.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Interment Newton Cemetery, Newton. Expressions of sympathy may be made in his memory to the Armenia Fund, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 301, NY, NY 10038 or St. Stephen's Armenian Elementary School, 46 Elton Ave., Watertown, MA 02472.
Ohannes Salibian studied, taught, practiced music for more than forty years, first in his native Beirut, then in Soviet Armenia, then in Lebanon, and in the US (Iowa, Los Angeles, and finally Boston).
Salibian's long association with music goes back to his childhood in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud, when he scraped enough money to buy himself a second hand accordion. During his adolescence, he played at school functions and took classes privately. In 1960, he enrolled at the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan. He graduated in 1967 with a M.A. in Composition and Music Theory. He studied under Lazar Sarian, and took private lessons in conducting from Ohan Dourian.
After a brief stint in France, he settled in Beirut. Between 1967 and 1975, he taught at all the major musical institutions of Beirut, had private students, organized concerts, and founded the Icon Wind Ensemble, a jazz orchestra of young talented performers. The Icon gave a number of very well-attended concerts in and around Beirut. During this period, several of Salibian's compositions were performed by local musicians.
The civil war of Lebanon forced Salibian to leave Lebanon for the US. First, he settled in Iowa and then in 1979 he was invited to head the newly created Program in Armenian Music at the Univ. of Southern California. The program was terminated in 1984 for lack of funds and then Ohannes came to Boston where he worked for many years as a recording engineer, editor and acoustical consultant. He founded Meg Recordings in 1988 which was dedicated to producing high quality recordings of classical Armenian music and received critical and popular acclaim. At the time of his death, Salibian was working on a re-mastered edition of the songs or Armenak Shahmouradian, a CD of sound-text compositions of Vahe Oshagan's poetry, and a release of the songs of Glakho Zakharov.
Facts
Born: March 16, 1939
Place of Birth: Beirut, Lebanon
Death: September 20, 2007
Place of Death: Burlington, Massachusetts
Occupation: Recording Engineer
Survivors
Taline Voskeritchian Salibian, Wife
Tamar Salibian, Daughter
Nazareth Salibian, Brother
Vahram Salibian, Brother
Kohar Salibian, Sister
Hasmig Garabedian, Sister
Services
Funeral Service
Mon. September 24, 2007 , 10:00 a.m. at St. Stephen's Armenian Church
Click for Map and Directions
Interment
Mon. September 24, 2007 , 11:30 a.m. at Newton Cemetery
Click for Map and Directions
Donations
Memorial donations can be made to St. Stephen's Armenian Elementary School, 46 Elton Ave., Watertown, MA 02472 or the Armenia Fund, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 301, NY, NY 10038
