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In August 2022, the inaugural edition of the Symphonic Yerevan International Music Festival will land in Armenia, organized by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC), in collaboration with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and in partnership with the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, the Yerevan Municipality, Armenian State Philharmonia and Arno Babajanyan Concert Hall and the Komitas Museum-Institute.

Commencing on the 12th of August, and running until the 25th of the month, this festival will see some of the most acclaimed musicians and conductors of our time performing in the Armenian capital over the course of 14 days, with the festival presenting a mixture of chamber and symphonic concerts in some of the city’s most celebrated venues, including the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall, the Arno Babajanyan Concert Hall and Komitas Museum-Institute, the State Symphony Orchestra reports.

Featuring a number of performances by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, who will be taking on the role of Orchestra-in-Residence for this first edition, Symphonic Yerevan will also witness appearances by a host of leading international soloists, including violinists Giovanni Andrea Zanon (Italy), Marc Bouchkov (Belgium) and Nancy Zhou (China/USA), pianists Saleem Ashkar (Israel/Palestine), Vanessa Benelli Mosell (Italy), Armine Grigoryan (Armenia), Sona Barseghyan (Armenia), clarinettist Fabrizio Meloni (Italy), cellist Brannon Cho (USA), flautist Noemi Gyori (Hungary), Gevorg Avetisyan (Armenia), guitarist Xuefei Yang (China) and others.

Moreover, throughout the festival, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra shall also be teaming up with various distinguished conductors from around the world, with Dutch conductor Daniel Raiskin, Hungarian conductor Gergely Madaras and Sergey Smbatyan, the Founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, each set to lead the orchestra at different points of the festival.

Across Symphonic Yerevan’s 14 concerts, audiences will be able to enjoy music from a variety of seminal composers from Armenia, the wider European region and beyond, with the concert programmes specially selected to feature works from historic greats alongside contemporary offerings from some of the renowned composers of our own time.

It should be noted that Alexey Shor is the Composer-In-Residence of the “Symphonic Yerevan” International Music Festival.

“I am very proud to be launching the first edition of the “Symphonic Yerevan” International Music Festival in this wonderful city, and honoured to be doing so alongside the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, one of our oldest and most treasured partners, who share our deep passion for the global heritage that is classical music. I have no doubt that this festival shall prove to be yet another successful collaboration, and encourage you all to join us along with the dozens of internationally-acclaimed artists and musicians who will all be taking part in this joyous celebration of culture,” notes Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.

Sergey Smbatyan notes that the cooperation with the European Foundation for Support of Culture is expanding year by year, and their approaches and desires in creating new projects coincide. “I sincerely congratulate all the outstanding soloists and conductors of the “Symphonic Yerevan” International Music Festival, as well as our audience, who will have the opportunity to enjoy the concert performances both in the halls and online platforms,” says Sergey Smbatyan.