The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia for the second year in a row takes part in the “Al Bustan” international festival hosted in Beirut in the status of an official band. Since 1994 up to now, the Festival has invited more than 4 000 artists from around the world. This year, over 300 artists have been invited to the Festival, and the Festival program included opera, symphonic, choral, chamber music, jazz and oriental music, as well as dance and theater performances. Today, RA Deputy Minister of Culture Arthur Poghosyan said during the press conference with the journalists that the Youth Orchestra’s involvement in the Festival was under the events-list dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and was carried out under the support of the state committee coordinating the events of the centennial, as well as under VivaCell-MTS as the chief partner of the orchestra.
“During the Festival, the musicians, conductors and administrative representatives performed with the symbol of the centennial – “Forget Me Not” badge. We are pleased that our orchestra presented to the prestigious music festival with high-performance mastery,” noted A. Poghosyan, emphasizing that last year the Youth Orchestra participated in the Festival in the status of official guest and chief partner. “This year too, the leadership of the festival had invited the Youth Orchestra and had allowed this participation to be considered as an event carried out under the centennial of the Genocide,” added the Deputy Minister.
Artistic Director of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia, also Principal Conductor Sergey Smbatyan assurances that the performance with “Forget Me Not” was very well perceived by the festival organizers and other participants. “Not only our orchestra, but also the artistic director of the Festival and the soloist acted in all concerts with “Forget Me Not” badge. This goes to show that people understand and are ready for this step,” stressed S. Smbatyan.
Back to the Festival program, the Youth Orchestra’s artistic director said that from February 26 to March 10, the orchestra played 5 concerts at the Festival with the renowned soloists and conductors. The first four concerts were held under the leadership of the Festival’s artistic director, Italian conductor Gianluca Marciano, and the March 10 concert was headed by S. Smbatyan himself. The program included V. Bellini’s “Norma” opera, S. V. Rachmaninov’s, P. I. Tchaikovsky’s, V. A. Mozart’s, and L. V. Beethoven’s works. “I am very happy for having such a success on the international stage. “Al Bustan” is one of the greatest festivals in the region and takes a major role in the international arena. And it is a great fortune in the artist’s life to receive an invitation from a serious place, especially when he receives the invitation for the second time,” said S. Smbatyan, noting that the Youth Orchestra has received an invitation to participate in the festival in 2016, and expressed hope that next year the colleagues will support them to participate in the festival. Note also that the Youth Orchestra will have concerts under the event-list dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian genocide not only in Armenia, but also in Poland, Spain and France.
Siranush HAYRAPETYAN
