World-renowned rock band System of a Down will tour South America this fall. The band will play concerts in three major cities – Sao Paulo, Brazil (October 1st), Buenos Aires, Argentina (October 5th), and Santiago, Chile (October 7th).

Lead singer and Civilitas Foundation honorary board member Serj Tankian will also lead the band in the Rock in Rio Festival on October 2nd. System of a Down is co-headlining with Guns and Roses.

System of a Down recently toured Europe this past June playing concerts in Milan, Nuremberg, and Paris.

This May, Serj Tankian will be rejoining his System Of A Down band mates for one of this year’s most anticipated tours. However, before he takes the stage with System, Tankian is conquering a new world: the theater. ‘Prometheus Bound,’ Tankian’s collaboration with acclaimed playwright Steven Sater, is currently in the middle of its world premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sater believes that Tankian is doing something totally unique. “He’s brought a sound to the theater like you’ve never heard before,” says the playwright. “We’re doing a very ambitious and radical show. We’re taking an ancient, classic piece of theater and wedding it to real rock’n’roll music. I think this show reveals Serj as a composer in ways we’ve never heard before.”

For Tankian, many aspects of working in the theater are totally new experiences. Sitting in the audience while hearing somebody else sing his words is a very different role for a man quite used to being on stage. The shift in perspective took some getting used to.

Tankian also presented his newest poetry collection ‘Glaring Through Oblivion’ on March 29 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Glendale. The collection is a book of Tankian’s original poetry, strikingly illustrated by Roger Kupelian. Unique illustrations punctuate nearly 70 poems - almost none of which have ever been published before. ‘Glaring Through Oblivion’ is Serj’s second poetry book and a complimentary title to Cool Gardens, Tankian’s well received debut collection of prose.

Civilitas Foundation honorary board member Serj Tankian is reuniting with fellow band members of System of a Down - drummer John Dolmayan, guitarist/volcalist Daron Malkian and bassist Shavo Odadjian – to make a comeback. Their first concert will be in North America on Tuesday, May 10 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The date is part of a seven-city tour with gypsy punk Gogol Bordello and includes stops at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Seattle, Mountain View, Denver, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas.

The band has not toured North American in five years. In June the band will also travel to Europe to give concerts in UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Austria and Russia. More tour dates will be announced on systemofadown.com along the way.

Recently Tankian also collaborated with Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson. Their track “The Hunger”, taken from Serj’s rock musical “Prometheus Bound”, was released on iTunes on March 1st with all proceeds to benefit Amnesty International.

In response to a campaign by the Armenian National Committee of America, Civilitas Foundation honorary board member Serj Tankian, urged his Facebook fans to call Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and request that she schedule a vote on Armenian Genocide Revolution.   The Armenian Genocide Resolution calls upon the President to ensure that American foreign policy reflects an understanding of the human rights related issues connected to the Armenian genocide.