1938-1956
Artemi Ayvazyan
In 1997 "Elitarnaya Gazeta" newspaper wrote about Artemy Sergey Ayvazyan "Man who was successful in everything".
Artemy Ayvazyan was born in 1902 to a prominent and educated family. His father was a lawyer, a music critic, and a literary translator at the same time. His mother was a pianist who taught her son to play the piano and other musical instruments.
Ayvazyan preferred cello and achieved outstanding success as a performer. He received a serious music education, by initially graduating from the Tbilisi Conservatory (1923), and later the Moscow Conservatory (1932), and afterwards Doctoral Studies in the Moscow Conservatory (1935).
Artemy Ayvazyan showed interest in the composition at the Tbilisi Conservatory. He took lessons from Alexander Spendiaryan, who highly appreciated his student's talent. Artemy Ayvazyan showed his organizational talent yet very young - at the age of 25, when in 1927 he was sent to Leninakan (Gyumri) as a music studio director and educator.
In 1936 Artemy Ayvazyan was finally moved to Yerevan. In 1938 according to Artemy Ayvazyan's memoirs. "The supreme organizations wanted to create a musical band in Armenia: lively, cheerful, and national, something like jazz. I was assigned to do that. "
As it is known, Artemy Ayvazyan performed the task perfectly.
He recalls: "Before the Ten-Day event dedicated to the Armenian Art, People's artists Ruben Simonov and Alexander Melik-Pashayev arrived in Yerevan, as leaders of the event. I was amazed, confused, and shocked when after listening to my band's music they jumped out from their seats, hugged me warmly and joyfully and exclaimed. "This is wonderful. This is extraordinary, colorful. This is what is needed. Jazz was immediately included in the Ten-Day program.
Even now, 80 years later, being aware of the situation in that time, it is impossible to perceive the greatest success that Armenian jazz was led by Artemy Ayvazyan without excitement and pride. Our orchestra was applauded not only in the big cities of the Soviet Union – like in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Kharkov, Riga, Odessa, Baku, Tbilisi, but also at different places of the Soviet Union, such as military units, large factories and on boats.
It might seem that leading a glorious music band, going on tours with it and composing at the same time, is a lot for a person, however, in 1939, Artemy Ayvazyan has been assigned as Deputy Director and Artistic Manager of the Philharmonic. By taking the job, he came up with the following idea, “Separating pop music from the Philharmonic and creating an independent institution”. Soon, Armenian State Pop music institution was founded and Ayvazyan was appointed as its director. Some time later, he was appointed as an artistic manager and director of the opera theater. He also succeeded in this field. The theater took its important place in the cultural life of our republic.
Since the very first days of the Great Patriotic War, the state jazz band of Armenia included performances in its current concert activities specifically for the Red Army military units both at the rear and at the front. The music group performed at hospitals, on ships, and in Red Army houses, on the first line. There are many archival evidences about how enthusiastically our musicians were performing for the Red Army soldiers.The war ended, and as before, the glorified jazz band of Armenia was performing concerts throughout the Soviet Union under the supervision of the composer Artem Ayvazyan.
In 1956, after 18 years of leading the orchestra, according to his request, Artemy Ayvazyan bid farewell to his beloved child, that is to say to his orchestra.
In the following years he was continuing to create and compose fruitfully. Especially it is worth mentioning the music for the films: "Snow Queen", "Mother's Heart", "Why does the river make noise?", "Poems about Armenia". He composed two concerts for Cello and Orchestra, the Third Sonata for the Symphonic Orchestra.
Artemy Ayvazyan passed away in 1975 in Yerevan, to which he dedicated his creative spirit and the warmth of his soul.
