Prime Minister Receives Tigran Mansuryan and Participants of the Composer Festival

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today received Tigran Mansuryan, the composer, and participants of the "Contemporary Classics" composer festival, including Latvian composer Georgs Pelecis, German violinist Gidon Kremer, Chinese violinist Ning Feng, violinist Shushan Siranosyan, Latvian cellist Giedre Dirvanskaite, Italian cellist Mario Brunello, French pianist Remi Jeanney, and co-organizers of the festival: the artistic director and chief conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan, and the president of the European Cultural Foundation Konstantin Ishkhanov.

According to the government’s press service, while addressing the festival participants, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted: "I am pleased to welcome all of you to the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. We value the organization of the 'Contemporary Classics' composer festival in our country. For me and for our government, culture has a significant role in elevating the quality of relationships among citizens, as well as fulfilling an important educational function.

Last year's revolution in Armenia also had an important cultural content, and it is one of our government’s top priorities to make culture more accessible to our citizens and bring them closer to it."

Co-organizer of the festival, conductor Sergey Smbatyan, thanked the Prime Minister for the reception and noted that this exceptional festival has brought together renowned contemporary composers. It will be held from November 1-9, with each concert dedicated to one of the participating composers, featuring their works. The concerts will be conducted by Sergey Smbatyan, Eduard Topchyan, Karl Jenkins, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

The Prime Minister and participants of the "Contemporary Classics" composer festival exchanged thoughts on the promotion and dissemination of culture, classical music, and other branches of art, the development of the educational component of culture, and the activities of cultural institutions. Nikol Pashinyan presented ongoing programs and planned initiatives by the government in these areas, once again emphasizing the importance that the state attaches to the sector.

The festival participants deemed the government’s initiatives aimed at invigorating cultural life as commendable and important, inviting the Prime Minister to attend the concerts of the "Contemporary Classics" composer festival.

Prime Minister Pashinyan wished a successful course for the "Contemporary Classics" composer festival, thanked for the invitation, and noted that he would gladly attend one of the festival's concerts.

The organizers of the "Contemporary Classics" composer festival are the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the European Cultural Foundation. The festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.