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From left, Hasmik Harutyunyan (conservatory director), Alexan Ter-Minasyan, Thorsten Weiss, Maik Gruchenberg

Ars Musica Brings Grand Concert Harp to Gyumri

GYUMRI, AUGUST 26, 2021— Sunday, August 22. Gyumri, in the Black Fortress. About 300 guests gathered for a very special event. Ars Musica, a renowned men’s chorus from Germany, was on a concert tour in Armenia, having already performed in Tatev, Yerevan and at the Geghard monastery. After Gyumri, they would continue with performances in Gavar, the Sevanavank monastery, Litschk and Echmiadzin.

Performing on the new harp

Coming at the middle of their tour, Gyumri actually represented a high point. The city has been officially designated as a sister city to Halle, in Saxon Anhalt, the first Armenian city to establish such a partnership with a German counterpart. And, to celebrate the historic event, the Gyumri conservatory received a Venera Grand Concert Harp. This was a gift from the chorus, together with the Mirak-Weissbach Foundation and the Halle Rotary Club. The conservatory in Gyumri, a branch of the Yerevan State Conservatory after Komitas, had been eager to offer instruction in the classical harp, and needed an appropriate instrument. Ars Musica raised funds through benefit concerts in Germany and the other partners contributed donations.

The German male chorus presented a magnificent program with works by Germans, including Mendelssohn and Schubert, as well as Armenian composers, all in the original language. Attending the Gyumri concert were representatives of the municipality and conservatory. German Ambassador to Armenia Dr. Michael Banzhaf and Cultural Attaché Jakob Ziegler were among the honored guests. Alexan Ter-Minasyan, Honorary German Consul, appeared on stage at the end of the concert together with Thorsten Weiss, Chairman of Ars Musica, to officially present the harp. Conservatory director Hasmik Harutyunyan delivered a certificate of authenticity to choir conductor Maik Gruchenberg and a medal, created from a bullet by Gyumri artist Artak Tadevosyan.

Members of Ars Musica perform.

The gathering had an opportunity to hear from the new arrival — the magnificent instrument — as it made its Armenian debut at the conclusion of the festivities.

To view clips of the concert, go to:

https://fb.watch/7zEIjbt4Tp/

Michael Weissbach presenting instruments to Oshagan music school director, with Margarit Piloposyan, Deputy Country Director of FAR, Yerevan

Musical Instruments and Materials for the Music School in Oshagan

On 29 Mai 2013 we delivered the first group of musical instruments to the music school in Oshagan. The city is not far from Etchmiadzin, and is world famous as the final resting place of Mesrob Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet at the beginning of the 5th century A.D.

Originally we had collected the instruments for the music school #6 (“Octet“) in Gyumri, but after having learned from the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) that Gyumri was about to receive a generous donation of instruments from Canada, we modified our plans. Thanks to the help of the FAR office in Yerevan, we learned about the music school in Oshagan, for which FAR had organized funds to erect a new building.

When we visited the school, we were treated to a short concert by some students, on the piano, as well as in an ensemble of Kanouns, cello and wind instruments. Although Oshagan has instruments, the director was happy to see those we had brought with us, which included violin, flute, bows, strings, chin supports, a new cello case and so forth. He received them with thanks, and assured us that they would be put to good use at the school.

We found out that the school, though completely new and beautifully finished, still needs some furniture, and that they plan to build up a library of DVD's, CD's, musical scores and books. One new task we put on our agenda was to help supply this new library. 

A Happy Musical New Year for Dilijan Students

DILIJAN, Armenia, JANUARY 4, 2019 — Students at the State Art College of Dilijan are ringing in the New Year with music, and with brand new instruments, thanks to the initiative of the Foundation for Armenian Relief (FAR). FAR, established in 1988 as a relief effort after the earthquake, has continued to raise funds for economic, social and educational programs in Armenia and cooperates with other foundations on specific projects. One of them focuses on music education.

Staff applauds the arrival of new Instruments

The State Art College of Dilijan is a special institution that plays a unique role in the musical education of Armenia, as it is the only one that trains teachers of music. Established in 1997, it is an outgrowth of the Dilijan Musical School, which had been operating since 1945. Over the past two decades, the College has become the cradle of musical education in the entire marz (province) of Tavush (in the northeastern part of Armenia) and coordinates 15 music schools there.
The college provides two levels of musical education, the first comprising a seven-year curriculum for students attending classes after their regular school, and the second consisting of a four-year vocational curriculum, open to the graduates of the seven-year program and others. It is these students who go on to become teachers themselves and develop careers in music schools throughout the nation.
Both in the first and second levels, the curriculum offers instruction in vocal and instrumental music, winds, piano, string and national instruments. The college has a choir, and ensembles for wind and traditional national instruments. Currently there are 178 pupils in the first level and 63 students in the second level.

How does it sound?

The College students take part in contests, festivals and competitions. The ensembles and the choir are frequently invited to perform at diverse celebrations in Dilijan, the marz and beyond. Since the College functions as the coordinator of the marz music schools, it frequently hosts master classes by prominent musicians from Yerevan and thus ensures continuing education to teachers from all the music schools in the marz. It also hosts concerts at the College for all official, international delegations, guests of Dilijan and/or the marz. Its dedicated and professional staff have earned the respect and gratitude of the entire community.

A Wish List
The building that houses the facility is quite adequate, as it is big and sunny, with lots of light. But, it is old, has not been renovated for over twenty years, and, despite the care given it by its staff, has fallen into disrepair. In hopes of finding support for an overhaul, a team of teachers and their supervisor drafted a wish list, detailing what the school would need to be able to perform at the highest level. The entire building would have to be renovated, including the 300 square meter concert hall; once that were done, the concert hall would need new chairs and the classrooms would have to be equipped with new furniture. Most importantly, the school required new instruments, as well as training manuals.

Lots of light inside the school

Thanks to a donation by a benefactor, FAR was able to purchase and provide the school with the 200 new chairs for the concert hall, but the facility itself still awaits renovation. This is an urgent task, considering the school’s function not only to educate its students but also to provide adequate conditions for visiting musicians who come to give concerts and master classes.

FAR also purchased the quality instruments after matching an initial donation by the Mirak-Weissbach Foundation with a contribution by the Galust Galo fund. Shortly before Christmas, the shipment of instruments arrived, 37 in all, and the students were excited. Margarit Piliposyan, FAR’s Deputy Country Director and Program Director, reported on December 19, “the teachers and students are happy! They called it a gift from heaven.” The new instruments include pianos, string, wind and traditional national instruments, as well as some devices for the sound system in the concert hall. The school expressed appreciation “for the priceless assistance to the younger generation, who love and study music,” and promised to prepare concerts to greet the benefactors in the New Year.

Komitas statue in front of the Conservatory in Yerevan

Mirak-Weissbach Foundation Mediates Donation of Musical Scores to Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan

Yerevan, April 26, 2016 – During their visit to Armenia this year, the Weissbachs were warmly welcomed by Professor Mher Navoyan und Rector Shahin Shahinyan at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory.
Days earlier a collection of valuable musical scores from the estate of the Wiesbaden pianist and conductor Bernhard Scheidt had arrived in Yerevan, transported overland from Germany. With curiosity and interest, they listened to the story behind the generous donation, which they received with appreciation and gratitude. In October 2015, Bernhard Scheidt passed away after a long and active life with music. From his work as a pianist, conductor and especially music teacher, he had assembled a huge library of music literature, above all for piano and orchestra. His long-term companion, Sabine Meerwein, who is a professional singer, had wondered what to do with this material. She certainly did not want it to end up in a flea market or lay unused in some storage room. In December 2015, she read an article about the Mirak-Weissbach Foundation in the Wiesbadener Kurier, and learned of its work with music schools. She contacted the Weissbachs, to see if these scores might be of interest for institutions of higher learning in Armenia. After discussion with the Armenian Embassy in Berlin, Armenian musicians in Germany and Armenia and, of course, with the Conservatory in Yerevan, it became clear that these musical scores would be appropriate for an institution like the Komitas Conservatory and its high level education program. Ms. Meerwein then decided to give the scores to the Mirak-Weissbach Foundation, where they were ordered, catalogued and finally delivered to be packaged and shipped to the Conservatory as a donation.

Palette with music scores being loaded in Wiesbaden

Rector Shaen Shahinyan and Professor Mher Navoyan, who is Vice Rector, were eager to learn all about Bernhard Scheidt and Sabine Meerwein. The musical scores are to be placed in a special section of the Conservatory’s large library, under their names. Bernhard Scheidts professional career is indeed impressive. In a short biographical sketch, Sabine Meerwein summarized the essence as follows:
“His outstanding activity as a teacher lives on in numerous students in their public performances and concerts today. Bernhard Scheidt’s legacy lies in the transmission and communication of the German and European interpretation tradition, which he was able to pass on to his students, thanks to his personal acquaintance with extraordinary artists like Maria Callas, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Pablo Casals, Wilhelm Kempff and Pierre Monteux.”
Now we can join the directors of the Komitas Conservatory in Yerevan in adding that Bernhard Scheidt continues to transmit this tradition through musical scores of works of great European composers, bequeathed to Armenian students in Yerevan.