RESULTS OF THE 2023 YEAR

2023 has once again become a fruitful year for CUA. During the year, in addition to traditional festivals and competitions, new festivals were held, concerts and scientific conferences were organized, and repair work was carried out. More on this below.

Work on the installation of the heating system for the CUA administrative building, which began in December 2022, was completed in January 2023. The system was put into operation on February 3, thanks to which the offices of the administrative part (2nd floor), the corridor of the 2nd floor and the security post located on the first floor are already heated.

A new page has been opened in the old, still active version of the CUA website, on which international competitions are presented in a version translated into Armenian.

Concert projects started in March with concerts of Armenian music dedicated to Levon Chaushian in the cities of Providence and Arlington, USA. The project was implemented on the initiative of CUA, the Amaras Cultural Alliance and the cultural committee of the Armenian Church of Saints Sahak and Mesrop.

The 14th Festival of Armenian Composer Art took place in March, within the framework of which 3 concerts took place. The project is being implemented through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the RA, the State Symphony Orchestra of Armenia and the Union of Composers of Armenia.

In April, the lighting system of the concert hall of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, the lighting of the hall and the lighting system of the entrance to the building were changed. A new lighting system was purchased for the concert hall. At the first stage, the fresco column of the concert hall stage was illuminated. It should be noted that in August the CUA building received external lighting for the first time during its existence.

In April, on the initiative of CUA, in partnership with the Airaratian Patriarchal Diocese, the beginning of a new choral festival dedicated to the 170th anniversary of Christophor Kara-Murza was laid, in which about two dozen choirs took part. The festival is also unique in that it was attended by choirs from art, music and secondary schools. Three festival concerts took place on April 28, May 18 and June 15.

The 10th Republican Competition for Young Composers after Edward Mirzoyan, which was held for the first time in two cities – Yerevan and Dilijan, was also unprecedented. In addition, the participants, together with their parents and teachers, spent three days in the creative house of composers in Dilijan, which was held for the first time as part of competitions for young composers. The Mirzoyan competition was held with the support of the RA Ministry of Education and Culture.

The VII Festival of Contemporary Armenian Music of the Union also started in May. This is a one-of-a-kind project that presents multi-genre works by a large number of Armenian composers. During the 7 concerts throughout the festival, held in May-October, 52 works by 43 authors were performed, 34 of which were presented for the first time. Moreover, the authors of works performed at the festival (premiere) received royalties for the first time, which became an important achievement of the outgoing year. The festival ended on October 31 at the Aram Khachatryan Concert Hall with the participation of the State Symphony Orchestra of Armenia. By the way, one festival concert took place in Dilijan, in the house of composers L.V. In the Beethoven Concert Hall, where the National Hero of the RA Kh performed. The National Academic Choir of Armenia performed under the direction of Chekijyan.

On June 16, in the session hall of the Presidency of the NAS RA, together with the Institute of Arts of the NAS RA, a scientific conference dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the birth of Christophor Kara-Murza was held.

As part of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the NAS RA, the Institute of Arts of the NAS RA, together with CUA, initiated a series of scientific conferences “National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia – 80: Grateful Armenian Academic Art Critics,” the purpose of which was to reveal the important role of the NAS RA in the development of Armenian art. artistic research. The scientific conference held on June 27-28 was dedicated to Christapor Kushnaryan, the scientific conference held on September 19 was dedicated to Gevorg Geodakyan.

On September 12-14, an international scientific conference on the topic “Aram Khachatryan – 120” was held at the NAS RA. The conference was initiated by the Institute of Arts of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia together with the House-Museum of Aram Khachatryan and CUA with co-financing by the Committee of Higher Education and Science of Armenia. NAS RA. The conference was attended by world-famous leading scientists and young researchers from 8 countries (Armenia, Russia, USA, Ukraine, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon).

The social support program for CUA members over 80 years of age, as well as socially vulnerable members, continued throughout the year.

Feeling a great responsibility to their country and people, CUA was the only one among the creative unions who publicly spoke out about the blockade of Artsakh, even sending an open letter to the presidents of Russia, the USA and France about the catastrophic situation. This is not the first time that CUA has expressed its support and cooperation to the Artsakh Armenians. Needless to say, over the past three years, many charitable actions have been carried out, both in the form of food and money sent to Artsakh or donated to Artsakh Armenians living in Armenia. CUA became the last cultural organization operating in Armenia to organize a charity concert tour in Artsakh in 2022. in July, within the framework of which concerts were organized in Agavno, Martuni, Chartar, Stepanakert.

During the year, branch sessions and meetings were also held, including author’s creative portraits (Simon Sargsyan, Martun Israelyan).

Unfortunately, our composer family suffered losses during the year. CUA members Ashot Zohrabyan, Simon Hovhannisyan, David Sakoyan and Anna Azizyan ended their earthly lives.

A significant event was also the opening of auditoriums of the CUA members Robert Amirkhanyan, Armen Budaghyan, Konstantin Petrosyan, Aram Satian, as well as Levon Chaushyan at the Romanos Melikyan State College, which is important for the respect and appreciation of modern figures of Armenia.