VLADILEN BALYAN 100

From the composer’s memories:

“I was born into a musical family, where Armenian music was constantly played. One great composer, having heard my early works, said that I would never become a composer. Later, I presented these works to musicologist Konstantin Melik-Vrtanesyan, who said: “You will become a composer because you know how to create melodies.” And from that day on, he became my first teacher. He tried to get me admitted to the R. Melikyan Music College. After studying for three months, I was called up for military service. My studies were interrupted. It was 1942.

When I returned from the army and wanted to enroll again, the director of the school changed, and when he found out that I had only studied for three months, he decided that it would be better to consult with someone. By the will of fate, the well-known Christopher Kushnaryan was evacuated to Yerevan at that time, and the director consulted with him. Kushnaryan said that he would give an answer. A few days later I went to the school and learned that I had been reinstated in two departments at once: composition and conducting”.