14 August, 2016

This article is kindly provided by the PR centre of Armenian Caritas (Marina Bazayeva–PR & Communication Officer).

Hayk loves music. At home he spends hours listening to classic music on his computer. He lives with autism and attends regularly Emili Aregak. Once a week, Hayk attends the 1.5 hour-long music therapy. Needless is to say that he does so with great interest and love.

“When Hayk first arrived to the centre back in 2009, he would not speak to anyone. He had difficulties in adhering to the rules. He suffered from lack of attention and weak concentration. He couldn’t sit still and keep focused very long during the sessions,” recalled Tigranhui Akopyan, director of Caritas Armenia’s day care centre for disabled children Emili Aregak.

But Hayk did something that cought everyone’s attention. “He has an excellent memory and he likes music. So it isn’t surprising that he used to walking around and sing. However, the surprising thing back then was that he sang those songs in the perfect tone. Not a single note was false!” explained Tigranhui.

The team understood the potential of music to connect with Hayk. After a couple of years of dedicated and committed efforts from both sides, Hayk was ready for individual music therapy sessions.

After some time, Hayk started to play little melodies. He also started to look forward to the weekly sessions and remembered perfectly the notes and melodies from the previous sessions.

Shortly after his individual sessions began, the centre received a drum from Stefanie, a dedicated Austrian volunteer. Hayk loved it immediately and started to play on it. Soon he was capable to accompany some Armenian songs by listening and feeling the music. “He listened to instructions in a concentrated and attentive way and in no time he started to improvise the rhythm and music on the drum-set,” said Gohar, the music therapist of Emili Aregak.

“The most important thing is that Hayk is growing through the music. He feels good. He gets lots of positive energy and transfers it to the audience. He likes classic music very much and reproduces the melody sound by sound on the drum. I remember how surprised I was the day he played Carmen’s prelude on it!” remembered Gohar.

Since 1 November 2015, and with the support of Emili Aregak, Hayk attends the official music school. After a few lessons, Hayk was playing on a professional drum set with sticks. He surprised his teacher, who had never worked with a child with disabilities before. After 14 lessons, Hayk was capable of playing 4 classic marches, such as Wagner’s, Mendelson’s and Strauss’ bridal and Little Drummer Boy’s March.

On 23 December 2015, Hayk impressed everyone with his end of the year performance. Gohar attended the event: “I can’t find any word to express my feelings when he played. He did it so brilliantly. He displayed such proper playing techniques. From the position of his hands to the mastering of his voice, everything was perfect. He hit every intended note. It was a great achievement for both Hayk and for “Emili Aregak”.