Concert-Presentation at the Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Georgia

EFSC-Calendar-2019 - ENG104In the beginning of 2019, the European Foundation for Support of Culture, with media support of the “Valletta 2018” Foundation and the Malta Tourism Authority,  launched a project entitled «Malta - the new centre of tourism and classical music attraction», which was held in the format of a presentation concert at European conservatories and to which all interested students were invited.

The programme  featured a presentation concert held on 20 May at the Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire (Georgia). The conservatoire students were offered a unique opportunity to learn about Malta, about the EUFSC and its activities, its educational projects, and about international piano, violin and wind competitions for young talents.

Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire is Georgia’s first higher learning institution founded in 1917. For many years, the Tbilisi conservatoire was the only European-type school of music in the Caucasus. The building of the conservatoire has been placed on the list of Georgia’s cultural heritage monuments.

Famous Georgian and Russian musicians have been the heads of the Tbilisi Conservatoire, including Nikolay Nikolaev (1917–1918), Nikolai Tcherepnin (1919–1922) and Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1924–1925).

The founding of the Conservatoire was preceded by a period of vibrant musical life in Tbilisi in the second half of the 19th century. Georgia was acquainted with the art of opera, with European and Russian classical music; it established musical education centres, allowing Georgia to train and cultivate its own musicians.

Georgia’s excellent school of composers has always been the conservatoire’s special achievement. The school had such representatives as Andrey Balanchivadze, Gia Kancheli, Shalva Mshvelidze, Alexander Machavariani, Otar Taktakishvili and others. Georgia’s school of performing arts is no less impressive and is equally renowned throughout the world; it has nurtured world-class stars known far beyond their homeland, such as Elisso Virsaladze, Paata Burchuladze, Rudolf Kerer, Dimitri Bashkirov, Lev Vlasenko, Tengiz Amiredjibi and others.

The presentation  concluded with a performance by violinist Karen Shakhgaldyan, winner of the Pablo Sarasate International Competition, and young pianist Ruben Kozin, Eurasian Music Games laureate; together, they  treated the audience to popular works by Maltese composers.