AYF Crescenta Valley “Zartonk” Chapter Hosts Annual Open Mic Night

On March 2, the Armenian Youth Federation Crescenta Valley “Zartonk” Chapter hosted its annual Open Mic Night at the Crescenta Valley Armenian Center. 

The much-anticipated event had over 90 people in attendance. It was free and open to the public free. There were more than 25 performances, including the UCLA ASA dance group, musician Raffi Semerjian, bands Ooshatsank and Green KARD, as well as a wide variety of poets, singers, actors and comedians.

“Zartonk” members sold homemade food and drinks to the attendees. Raffle tickets were also sold to benefit a fundraiser by the Crescenta Valley “Garegin Njteh” AYF Juniors, the proceeds of which will go toward Sose & Allen’s Memorial Forest.

In addition to the live performances, a section of the center displayed a variety of artwork by young artist Ani Terzian. “I am very thankful the ‘Zartonk’ Chapter gave me the opportunity to showcase my artwork,” she said. “The performances were great and I am very glad to share the title of an artist with them.”

Christina Der Sarkissian, Crescenta Valley “Zartonk” member and Ooshatsank lead vocalist, said, “’Zartonk’’s Open Mic Night is one of my favorite events hosted by our chapter.  It provides a great platform for exposing artistic talent in our community and encourages us to use art as gateway for expressing feelings we could not share otherwise.

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Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the United States, working to advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of Armenian-American youth.