On November 21 the concert of Khachaturian International Festival was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the renowned Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter. During the evening the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia performed with renowned musicians Alexandra Soumm (violin/France) and Alexander Romanovsky (piano/Ukraine / Italy). The audience enjoyed “Coriolan” Overture and Violin Concerto by Beethoven, as well as Piano Concerto No.1 by Tchaikovsky conducted by Sergey Smbatyan. 

 

Violinist Alexandra Soumm says that to play with the Orchestra gives her quite different emotions: “They are of my age, charged with positive emotions. I am from Paris, and what happened a week ago, is very painful for me. I asked the musicians to give me strength, and I felt a lot of love and support from them”. Alexandra Soumm is a versatile musician who is equally brilliant both with chamber and symphonic repertoire. She has collaborated with such orchestras as Los Angeles Philharmonic, National du Capitole de Toulouse, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and with many others. Over the last 10 years Alexandra is actively involved in activities of Seiji Ozawa International Academy (Switzerland).

The pianist Alexander Romanovsky points out that he regularly visits Armenia with concerts. “Frankly speaking, here I feel myself at home. Every time Sergey Smbatyan says to me - welcome home; there is some truth in those words. In Armenia people are very kind and honest, this is a great wealth. I am happy to play with this wonderful Orchestra. When the musician steps on the stage, in fact he is naked but he should not hide; audience feels everything. And backed by Sergey Smbatyan and by support of the orchestra musicians, we can see a birth of something wonderful at the stage which is called Music. No matter how many times I visit Armenia, every time I find something unique and mysterious”- says Alexander Romanovsky. One should note that Romanovsky won the 1st prize at Busoni Competition (Italy) at the age of 17. Since 2007 he has released 3 CDs with Decca Recording Company (Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninoff) which acclaimed high assessments of musical critics. Since 2013 Romanovsky is the artistic director of Krainev International Competition for Young Pianists. Recently he has performed as a soloist with Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, under Valery Gergiev, as well as with James Conlon and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with Alan Gilbert's and New York Philharmonic, with London's Barbican Centre and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

 

The organizer of the 3rd Khachaturian International Festival is the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia (general partner VivaCell-MTS), it is held under the patronage of RA President Serzh Sargsyan. The Festival is realized by with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture. The festival is sponsored by "Pyunik" Charitable Foundation, “Luding" and "Jermuk Group” Companies and "Ani Plaza". 

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