‘Why am I Singing in Armenian if I’m Not Armenian?’ Asks Daniel Decker

Within the frames of the “The Golden Bridge of Friendship” program, Puerto Rican–American singer and composer Daniel Decker will be giving a concern in Armenia on Oct. 9. 

At a press conference today, Decker also talked about the release of his latest album, “Armenian By Choice,” which is full of not only Armenian songs, but also songs that have been translated into Armenian. It is the first time the singer has recorded an entire album solely in the Armenian language. 

Rather than contemporary pieces, Decker prefers songs that, according to him, are native to Armenians, for instance, such as Arno Babajanyan’s “Dle Yaman.” Decker said the first Armenian song he listened to was by Ara Gevorgian, after which they co-wrote the songs “Noah’s Prayer” (formerly, “Mush”) and “Adana.”

“I imagine that the first question that you were going to ask me was why am I singing in Armenian if I’m not Armenian. Why do I love Armenians? That is both a simple and complicated question. Cultural richness, interesting music, Christianity, picturesque places. But most of all, I love the Armenian people. Armenians have gone through a lot of difficulties, but they have remained quite strong,” he said.