YEREVAN, 29 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Music for the Future Cultural Foundation together with the State Symphony Orchestra of Armenia and the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) hosted the "Music for the Future" Classical Music Academy in Yerevan, within the framework of the Armenia International Music Festival.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from The Music for the Future Cultural Foundation, during the month-long Academy, twenty internationally renowned performers and professors from different countries conducted masterclasses for the foundation's young musicians and scholarship recipients. Participants were trained in eight disciplines: piano, violin, cello, bassoon, trombone, trumpet, flute and French horn.  

Professors present for the Academy of Classical Music in Yerevan included pianists Pavel Gililov (Germany/Austria), Vladimir Ovchinnikov (Russia), Remy Génier (France), Jean-Paul Gasparian (France) and Jin Yang (China), violinists Sergei Dogadin (Russia), Lavard Schou-Larsen (Austria), Gil Shaham (Israel/USA), Dora Schwarzberg (Austria/Russia), Graf Murza (Hungary/Russia), Fumiaki Miura (Japan) and Jeanne Gandelman (Israel), cellists Steven Isserlis (Great Britain), Felix Korobov (Russia), Dmitry Yablonsky (Russia/USA) and flautist Maxim Rubtsov (Russia). Scholarship holders were additionally the recipients of tuition by symphony orchestra section leaders Vahram Davtyan (trombone), Armen Karagyan (French horn), Nikolay Pogosyan (bassoon) and Tigran Avagyan (trumpet).

The Academy's organisers are confident that the project will live up to their expectations for further successes in the future. According to Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC, educational projects are a priority for the foundation: "At the Yerevan Academy of Classical Music talented children with a bright musical future have gathered together. Thanks to this initiative, they have had the opportunity to combine performing in classes and concerts with the invaluable experience of communicating with distinguished musicians and representatives of different schools of performance. I think that we will see and hear the results of these masterclasses in years to come, when these young musicians will perform on world stages.”

Anna Ter-Ovakimyan, Director of the Music in the Name of the Future Foundation, noted that upon completion of the Academy in Yerevan, the Foundation began to plan further programmes of masterclasses: "We continue, as last year, our cooperation with the State Symphony Orchestra of Armenia. Our scholarship holders will have the opportunity to attend masterclasses with all the musicians who will be performing with the GSA during this concert season, and also to work with the orchestra's concertmasters — something I believe will be very beneficial for the children. With Maestro Smbatyan we are discussing an important educational project for the provinces of Armenia, something for which we already have partners too, and I think that soon we will be able to announce the launch of the project. We are also discussing plans for next year with Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC. Our goals are the same — you could say we’re on the same wavelength. The ideas in the field of classical music that Konstantin Ishkhanov pursues all over the world, and the attitude he has towards Armenian culture, cannot be underestimated.”  

Many of the Russian music teachers have already held masterclasses in Armenia, and some have taught students as part of the activities of the Middle East Classical Music Academy in Dubai.

Commenting on the Academy in Yerevan and the support given to the young musicians, Pavel Gililov, pianist and professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, noted his confidence in the futures of the children, citing the knowledgeable specialists behind the masterclasses. "The initiative itself is in good hands: the combination of Sergey Smbatyan with Konstantin Ishkhanov — someone who is one of the major musical figures — means that the future of these young musicians is in the right hands. These guys will be able to provide a worthy replacement generation in the field of classical music," Gililov said, also noting the Armenian people to be very innately musical. “You can feel it in people, in their way of talking and moving.”

Violinist Graf Mourja said that it is hard to imagine a better approach for contributing to the future of music in the country than this initiative: "It's hard to think of a better idea, I can't even imagine a better idea. It's a real sincere, patriotic approach to the future of music. I think it's one thousand percent right. It's not just an investment in children, it's actually a deep understanding of the future of music in this country and in that respect Maestro Smbatyan is a tremendous asset.”

According to cellist Dmitry Yablonsky, during the educational project in Dubai organised by Konstantin Ishkhanov, in addition to two concerts he also gave a masterclass to a young cellist from Armenia: "I taught a very talented girl from Armenia [Music for the Future Foundation 2020/2021 scholarship holder Mari Akopyan], and I am confident that she will have a great musical future. I have also held masterclasses in Yerevan. These are very talented children and it is very important that they are supported. We all need help and support, and not only financial support - we need emotional support for these children, so that the music lives forever.”

World-renowned violinist and professor Dora Schwarzberg stressed the importance of preserving classical music for musicians, and in this respect supports the Academy's concept very much: "The very purpose is to learn, we learn throughout our lives. And it's important to keep the children’s desire to learn alive, to give them an opportunity to hear and learn something new. It's just great that the funding is spent on training and education. In essence, it is an investment in life, in the preservation of classical music.”