Conductors, performers, singers, actors, directors... They make our days significant with various concert and theater evenings. Every day in the morning they hold their rehearsals. If they find time, then on Tuesday and Friday they rush to us, to Radio Vem, to talk about their upcoming concert or play. And this live conversation becomes a real "surprise meeting."

"She knows how to immerse in these treasures, creating beautiful voices," writes the German Klassik Akzent in an article about the pianist Lusine Grigoryan's album "Seven Songs." Unerring feedback continues to reach Armenia and will be joined by the words of our musicians during the concert-presentation at the Komitas Museum-Institute on October 7, at 5 p.m.



On June 9, at 14:00, Komitas Chamber Music House invites us to an afternoon concert of organ music. The concert features the Italian organist Mateo Imbruno – a well-known representative of the world performing arts, a visiting Professor of several conservatories, head of festivals and member of competition commissions – and the young musician Tigran Buniatyan who has been perfecting his skills abroad in recent years.



On June 7, at 19:00, the Musical Thursday at the House of Khachaturian series invites you to an evening concert of opera arias and vocal chamber music. The USA-based mother and daughter musicians, young singer Tatev Baroyan and pianist-accompanist Zaruhi Baroyan, will perform in the concert. During our meeting, we talk not only about this concert, but also about their teachers, the path they have passed, their activity nowadays, and the several generations of the Baroyan family.



Such a meeting is possible only on June 1! On this festive day, we live broadcast the music performance, happy impressions and some honest confessions of the amazing Ulikhanyan sisters – cellist Lianna and violinist Viktoria.



Today Komitas Chamber Music House hosts the final concert of the master class of famous Professor Maria-Elisabeth Lott from the University of Music in Detmold, Germany. During our surprise meeting, we talk with Prof. Lott as well as violinist Ani Aghabekyan, Head of Raab Music School, founder of the German-Armenian Music Union, and Sofya Vardanyan, student at Detmold Conservatory.



The first winner in the junior group of the 5th Edvard Mirzoyan Republican Competition of Young Composers is 9-year-old Araks Aschyan, student of Ghazaros Saryan Art School No. 1 (class of Armenuhi Karapetyan), while the winner in the senior group is 14-year-old Aleksandr Tonikyan, student of Aleksandr Spendiaryan Music School (class of Suren Zakaryan). We are hosting the winners and Edmond Makaryan, the artistic manager of the competition.



On April 16, at 7 pm, Paronyan State Musical Comedy Theater will host the concert of the Nubar Armenian Traditional Song and Dance Group. After listening to the talk at our surprise meeting with the group's artistic director Lusine Nazaryan, you will surely not miss the evening dedicated to Hamshen songs and dances.



During the concert on April 10, the Armenian State Chamber Orchestra will play Joseph Haydn's Concerto No. 2 in D Major for cello and orchestra, Mozart's Concert No. 5 for violin and Antonio Vivaldi's Concert for two cellos. The soloists of the concert are violinist Feliks Harutyunyan, and cellists Levon Arakelyan and Vahe Danielyan. Feliks Harutyunyan is our surprise guest today.



Armenian State Symphony Orchestra started its 2018 tour from a concert held in Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg. They are going to have other concerts as well. Before leaving to take part in Malta International Festival, the Orchestra invites us to its special Yerevan concert. Our surprise guest is Sargis Balbabyan, Chief of Artistic Management of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra.



On March 27, Komitas Chamber Music Hall will host the evening concert of Daniel Yerazhisht. It is organized by the Center for Armenian Sacred Music. Singer Armine Khachatryan and pianist Elen Kirakosyan will take place in the concert and will perform church and folk songs and songs by authors. "In the basis of the ideology of this concert, songs created for the poems of our two catholicoses lie," says our guest, Daniel Yerazhisht.



On March 25, Komitas Chamber Music Hall will host the concert of the Hover choir's female group called "LE." They will sing Armenian and world choral works. Our surprise guest, the choirmaster of LE Narine Voskanyan, presents the premieres that are going to take place during that concert.



On March 16, the Akunk Traditional Song Ensemble will give a concert at the Arno Babajanyan Concert Hall. During our surprise meeting, we're also talking about the new program compiled by Artur Shahnazaryan, the artistic director of the ensemble. Our guest is Sona Hakobyan, coordinator, manager and organizer of ensembles of the Center for People's Music, RA Ministry of Culture.



The Gurdjieff Ensemble has not performed in Yerevan for a long time. The expected concert will take place at the Aram Khachaturian House-Museum on March 15, at 19:00. The next concert evening from the series "Musical Thursday at Khachaturian's House" will present music transcriptions of the works of Komitas and Georgy Gurdjieff. Tigran Mansourian's work "Come Home" will be performed for the first time. Our guest is Levon Iskenyan, the Artistic Director of the Gurdjieff Ensemble.



From March 5 to 9, by the efforts of Armenian State Orchestra, the works by Armenian composers of several generations are being performed. Our guest is Sargis Balbabyan, Chief of Artistic Management of the orchestra. I'm sure that if the organizations representing the main branches of Armenian music culture work together and in a systematic way, it will be possible to present the Armenian composers' art at each festival completely.



On March 9, the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra invites to an evening of symphony music. The conductor of the concert is Ruben Asatryan. The guest of our surprise meeting is the soloist of that concert, young violinist Sofya Vardanyan. At the concert, she is going to perform the same work that had been first performed 60 years ago by her grandfather, the famous violinist Hakob Vardanyan.



Music of Armenia offers five different programs for presenting music to Armenian women from March 8 to April 7. The heroes of the month will be Armine Grigoryan, DJ Anaïs, Anzhela Atabekyan, Lilit Pipoyan, and Otri Trio. Hasmik Movsisyan, the founder and head of Music of Armenia, also told during this surprise meeting about the scholarship for little Armenian female musicians and presented the history of the creation of the logo for this month campaign.



On March 5, the Alexander Spendiaryan National Opera and Ballet Theater will host the anniversary concert of one of the National Opera singers, Marine Deinyan. Satik Mkrtumyan and Hayk Deinyan, singers from Theater Krefeld und Mönchengladbach, will also take part in the concert. Marine Deinyan will sing the airs of Aida, Tosca, Norma, Leonora, and Maddalena, while the guests have promised to sing a part from George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess." During this surprise meeting, we managed to talk about both this anniversary concert and some episodes from the creative life of these three opera singers.



"Humans are those who are helpful to their nation, who sacrifice their lives with their good and beautiful works and patriotism." The staff of the Derenik Demirchyan House-Museum serve and live by turning these words of Demirchyan into work. After refurbishment, the museum presents a new exposition and periodic cultural programs to its visitors. Our surprise guest is the director of the Demirchyan House-Museum, Karine Rafayelyan.



In 2018, the museums of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin have started to carry out the exhibition project titled "Creating Hands." Until February 21, Gevorkian Theological Seminary's hall will host the works of artist Mikayel Harutyunyan and sculptor Sargis Babayan. "Sculpture is like a prayer," confesses our surprise guest, young sculptor, lecturer at the State Academy of Fine Arts Sargis Babayan.



“Can you sing the sol of the first octave”? This question gave a start to a creative union, which in its turn became the beginning of a love story. Our surprise guests, young musicians Anna Hayrapetyan and Gor Salnazaryan, talk on some topics related to their pedagogical and research life.



On November 28, at 19:00, the Komitas Chamber Music House will host an event dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Alexander Spendiaryan House-Museum. In our surprise meeting, we're talking with Nana Petrosyan, the head of the Exhibition and Propaganda Department of the Museum, about the upcoming festal event and some episodes from the past and present of Spendiaryan's house.



At the concert of November 24 during the 5th Khachaturian International Festival, the trio Otri of the Armenian State Youth Orchestra will present a new program and premieres in Armenia. The concert will take place at the National Gallery where the exhibition "Ivan Aivazovsky: Creation" has been opened, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the great marine painter. The entrance to the concert is free.



After a nine-year absence, opera singer Artak Kirakosyan will give his first solo concert in Armenia. The evening of November 4 became an occasion for a surprise meeting at our radio. The teacher of our guest that was born and had spent the first period of his education in Gyumri was Karine Mkrtchyan. He graduated from the class of Rebeka Ojakhyan at Yerevan Conservatory...



On September 28, the Aram Khachaturyan House-Museum will host the solo concert of young pianist, winner of international competitions, 8th grader at Alexander Spendiaryan Music School, Laura Galstyan. The most important part of Laura's education is her specialization under the guidance of renowned pianist Hayk Melikyan.

