YEREVAN, May 19 (Noyan Tapan). Ruben Asatrian, the conductor of the philharmonic orchestra of Armenia, told NT's correspondent that Sona Barseghian and Anush Nikoghosian, students of the Yerevan musical school after P. Chaikovsky, returned from the international musical contest-festival held in the United Arab Emirates in early May with first prizes. Anush Yavrumian, a student of the same school, was awarded with a special prize for out-contest performance on violoncello. According to the conductor, boys and girls aged under 16 from the Czech Republic, Poland, Egypt, Korea and Russia participated in the contest. "Our children were 14 and 15, but they received first prizes with absolute advantage," stressed the maestro. Girls performed with the most complicated programs, including the works of Chaikovsky, Mozart, List, Babajanian and Hayden.

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