The Vahagn Stamboltsyan International Organ Festival will kick off on September 26 at 7:00 PM at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall with a concert dedicated to the 153rd anniversary of Komitas.

With the support of the RA Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the initiative of the National Center for Chamber Music, the Vahagn Stamboltsyan International Organ Festival will be held in Armenia from September 26 to November 6. The festival will feature 12 concerts in Yerevan, Kapan and Charentsavan.

Famous foreign organists Fabio Machera (Italy), Evgeny Avramenko (Russia), Jean-Pierre Stivers (Netherlands), Lada Labzina (Russia), Emmanuel Arakelyan (France). The organists will also hold master classes.

The Armenian Organ School will be represented by Anna Bakunts, Karine Hovhannisyan, Harutyun Tagvoryan, Tereza Voskanyan, Hovhannes Manukyan, Armen Aghajanyan, David Hovhannisyan, Lusin Sarajyan, Lusine Harutyunyan, Vahagn Margaryan and Marina Nahapetyan.

“The organ has its own special place and audience in the cultural life of Armenia. The Dutch “Flentrop” organ of the Komitas Chamber Music House was installed in 1979 and is unique of its kind in the former USSR. Considering the uniqueness of the instrument and the interest of our listeners in organ music, the idea came to organize such a large-scale festival. By the way, the idea has a history of several years, the pandemic and the war forced us to slightly postpone its implementation, but we are happy that this concert season we will present the Vahagn Stamboltsyan International Organ Festival to the audience. By the way, Stamboltsyan performed at the first organ music concert held at the Chamber Music Hall," notes Armen Sukiasyan, the initiator of the festival and deputy director of the National Center for Chamber Music.

The festival will feature both classical organ works, as well as organ arrangements of Armenian musical gems and organ works by Armenian authors. The festival program also includes a concert dedicated to Mikael Tariverdiev.