· Classical
Ponte Musicale Festival to be held next year in collaboration with the AGBU
Armenian National Music has had a brief conversation with Ruben Antonyan, the President of the “Quarter Tone” Non-Governmental Organization and a co-organizer of the Ponte Musicale festival, as well as Gevorg Gharabekyan, the Artistic Director of the festival.
- We have heard that the Ponte Musicale festival has been postponed until next year. What was the reason for postponing it?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - Yes. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the festival until next year. The reason was the tense geopolitical situation relating to the Russia-Ukraine war. We thought we might face insurmountable difficulties because of that, particularly in the process of flying our musicians from Europe to Armenia. The second reason was that funding became problematic as many funds prefer to perform their donor functions by sending aid primarily to Ukraine, which is understandable.
- We have also been informed that the festival has stopped its cooperation with the Composers’ Union of Armenia, which was originally mentioned as a co-organizer of the festival. What brought about this change?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - That’s correct. We had planned from the very beginning to cooperate with the union in the scope of this festival, taking into account the following important goals of the festival: to build a bridge between high-class musicians from Armenia and abroad, to develop historically informed performance practice, to provide young musicians with an opportunity to communicate with first-class musicians and learn from them in Armenia, and, of course, to develop contemporary music. Unfortunately, our work style did not match with that of the union; therefore, we decided to terminate our cooperation as it became incompatible with our vision and goals.
Ruben Antonyan - I would just like to add that we have started new cooperation with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in the scope of the composers’ competition. AGBU has attached great value and importance to our initiative, expressing readiness to support the composers’ competition, which is to be held within the Ponte Musicale festival.
- Have any changes been made in the composers’ competition? As we know, it is the key event of the festival.
Ruben Antonyan - The composers’ competition, which is to be held in the scope of the Ponte Musicale festival, is one of the most important components of the festival. This is due to different factors, particularly the fact that the winning works will be played during the festival next year; they will be performed by professional high-class musicians. As for the changes in the competition, please note that the size of the prizes is unchanged, and the same goes for the requirements set for the scores. I guess the only thing that has changed is that we have extended the deadline until August of this year in response to numerous requests so that more composers have time to apply.
- Have any other changes been made to the program of the festival?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - The festival, including all of its events, has been postponed until July of 2023. We plan to invite a lot of high-class musicians and organize seminars and concerts in different cities of Armenia. We will later announce the name of the city where the festival will be held.
- We have heard that the Ponte Musicale festival has been postponed until next year. What was the reason for postponing it?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - Yes. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the festival until next year. The reason was the tense geopolitical situation relating to the Russia-Ukraine war. We thought we might face insurmountable difficulties because of that, particularly in the process of flying our musicians from Europe to Armenia. The second reason was that funding became problematic as many funds prefer to perform their donor functions by sending aid primarily to Ukraine, which is understandable.
- We have also been informed that the festival has stopped its cooperation with the Composers’ Union of Armenia, which was originally mentioned as a co-organizer of the festival. What brought about this change?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - That’s correct. We had planned from the very beginning to cooperate with the union in the scope of this festival, taking into account the following important goals of the festival: to build a bridge between high-class musicians from Armenia and abroad, to develop historically informed performance practice, to provide young musicians with an opportunity to communicate with first-class musicians and learn from them in Armenia, and, of course, to develop contemporary music. Unfortunately, our work style did not match with that of the union; therefore, we decided to terminate our cooperation as it became incompatible with our vision and goals.
Ruben Antonyan - I would just like to add that we have started new cooperation with the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in the scope of the composers’ competition. AGBU has attached great value and importance to our initiative, expressing readiness to support the composers’ competition, which is to be held within the Ponte Musicale festival.
- Have any changes been made in the composers’ competition? As we know, it is the key event of the festival.
Ruben Antonyan - The composers’ competition, which is to be held in the scope of the Ponte Musicale festival, is one of the most important components of the festival. This is due to different factors, particularly the fact that the winning works will be played during the festival next year; they will be performed by professional high-class musicians. As for the changes in the competition, please note that the size of the prizes is unchanged, and the same goes for the requirements set for the scores. I guess the only thing that has changed is that we have extended the deadline until August of this year in response to numerous requests so that more composers have time to apply.
- Have any other changes been made to the program of the festival?
Gevorg Gharabekyan - The festival, including all of its events, has been postponed until July of 2023. We plan to invite a lot of high-class musicians and organize seminars and concerts in different cities of Armenia. We will later announce the name of the city where the festival will be held.
