PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS: 
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
Ofelya Hambardzumyan
Award-winning Armenian folk singer Ofelya Hambardzumyan was born in Yerevan on 9 January 1925 and studied at Romanos Melikyan Musical College.
As a solo singer for Armenian Radio's Ensemble of Folk Instruments, she sang Armenian classical music, ashoughakan and folk songs. She was often the first performer of various contemporary ashoughakan.
Ofelya Hambardzumyan died on 13 June 2016, aged ninety-one.