Development and awareness-raising of the Armenian culture

With a view to strengthening foreign cultural policy and raising awareness of national and contemporary Armenian creative sectors, competitive conditions were created for ensuring participation of the whole culture sector in international events. Equal conditions and transparent procedures were ensured for establishing competitive framework between the cultural organisations and individual creators.
With a view to increasing the recognisability of the country and the culture, as well as ensuring additional quality and the necessary high profile to the events, targeted programmes (international and republican festivals and competition programmes, exhibitions, film screenings, other educational and cultural programmes) are being implemented in the Republic of Armenia every year with the participation of famous foreign artists, creative groups and sector specialists.
With a view to raising awareness of the Armenian culture, support was provided to Armenian creative groups and individual performers for participation in international projects, in particular:
- Cinema/Audiovisual arts: participation of Armenian films and individual creators in a total of 43 international film festivals, film markets and forums;
- Theatre arts: participation of 14 Armenian theatre companies and 13 individuals in 28 international projects;
- Visual arts: participation of young creators in 16 international biennales, exhibitions and innovative programmes;
- Music: participation of 15 Armenian musical groups and 51 individual performers in 56 international music festivals and projects;
- Dance: participation of 4 dance ensembles and 17 individual performers in 18 international festivals and competitions;
- Cultural education: participation of 143 individual performers and 1 choir in 42 international child and youth competitions, festivals and master classes.
With a view to promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, during the reporting period, 171 diverse and multi-genre projects (competition-festivals) were implemented in the republic in the sectors of theatre arts, cinema/audiovisual arts, music, dance, visual arts, as well as cultural education, 108 of which only were international projects and 63 -- republican projects.

FILM PROGRAMMES:
Film weeks organised in Armenia, co-production of films, conclusion of international agreements, membership to international institutions, international festivals held in Armenia, etc.
In the Republic a series of Republican and international festivals take place which ensure the communication of the citizens with multinational, multigenre, diverse cinema.
"Golden Apricot" Yerevan International Film Festival continues to take place under the theme "Crossroads of Civilisations and Cultures" and is the major regional international film festival receiving state support. In the reporting period, more than 490 films have been shown within the scope of the festival, 1520 accredited participants, 435 guests and 144000 viewers have been included.
During the festival directors and films representing different ethnic groups, nations, religions and aesthetics are seen, telling the daily life, troubles and joys, domestic life and habits of ordinary people from unique perspective. During this period of time the renowned guests were Jia Zhangke, Kim Ki-Duk, Amos Gitai, Artavazd Peleshian, Michael Glawogger, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Bruno Dumont, Catherine Breillat, Leos Carax, Carlos Reygadas, etc.
The members included in the honorary board of the festival are: Atom Egoyan (Canada), Jos Stelling (Netherlands), Krzysztoof Zanussi (Poland), Godfrey Reggio (USA), Fanny Ardant (France), Asghar Farhadi (Iran), Alexander Sokurov (Russia), Lee Chang Dong (Korea).
In the reporting period, during the film festival the following have been carried out: restrospective shows, opening of the stars of classics of Armenian cinema, international programmes, regional programmes, Yerevan premiers, workshops, master classes, Talent labs.
In the reporting period, the initiatives promoting international cooperation progress and development of the film industry are the following: presenting to the Armenian audience a greater number of the best films by film directors of the Asian, regional countries, as well as by film directors of Armenian origin, inclusion of filmmakers enjoying greater international reputation in the competition juries, launch and development of GAIFF Pro industry platform, launch and development of the project of C2C co-production film market, launch and development of CineThink project, establishment of regional film market - Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, expanding the cooperation with Rotterdam IFF, EAVE, IDFA, Bozar (Belgium), Israel Film Fund, Estonian Film Institute, Polish Film Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, promoting co-production, expansion and development of In Focus programme, inclusion of new countries.
Within the wider scope of the festival, animation films ("ReAnimania" International Animation Films Festival -- 400 animation films from 100 countries), spiritual films ("Fresco" International Festival of Modern Art and Spiritual Films), ethnographic films ("Apricot Tree" International Documentary Film Festival) are also presented, creating diversity in the cinema.
From the point of view of gender expression, importance is attached to the numbers of "KIN" (51 films from 16 countries) and "Sose" (more than 172 films from 39 countries have participated therein) International Film Festivals.
Events assisting to young and junior creatives include Yerevan Short Film Festival, "One Shot" International Short Film Festival for youth and "Rolan" International Film Festival for Children and Youth (186 films from 63 countries).
Films of domestic production and creative staff have participated in a number of international film festivals and film markets with the support of the Ministry (the Cannes, Moscow, Prague, Annecy, Talin, Lisbon, Guangzhou, Zielona Gora, Targu Marus, Brussels, Netherlands, Berlin, Bucharest, Kolkata, Tricase).
Since 2018, the works of restoration of the Armenian film heritage have started jointly with FIXAFILM Company in Poland. The samples of the film heritage were shown in Roterdam International Film Festival, Netherlands, 2019, at Pera Museum, Istanbul, 2019, at the National Gallery, London, 2019, at Close-Up Film Centre, London, 2019, at Moscow International Film Festival named after Andrey Tarkovskiy, 2019, at the Lincoln Cultural Centre in New York, within the framework of New York City International Film Festival, 2019, "Curtas Vila do Conde" Portuguese International Film Festival, 2019, and at the scientific conference of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, San Francisco, USA, 2019.
Screenings are foreseen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, 2020, at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2020, at "Cinemateket" Movie Theater of Copenhagen, 2020.

THEATRE PROGRAMMES:
Within the framework of International Theatre Festivals held in 2016-2019, the global contemporary theatre arts have been presented - "High Fest", "ArmMono" Mono Performances, Leonid Yengibaryan Mime and Shakespeare International festivals.
Importance has been specially attached to the programmes implemented for children and youth groups and young beneficiaries, such as "Tumanyan Fairy Tale Day", "Pomegranate Seed" Children and Youth Theatre Festivals.
Famous artists from Russia, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Egypt, the USA, the Great Britain, Switzerland, as well as from Iran have participated in "ArmMono" One Man Show International Festival. Popular Russian actors Regimantas Adomaitis, Aleksander Kalyagin, Genadi Khazanov, Yuri Kraskov, actor of Y. Vakhtangov Theatre, German Philipp Hochmair, etc. have honoured the festival with their presence. Directors of international festivals of well-known mono performances: Nina Mazur, theatre critic, Co-Chair of the International Monodrama Forum of UNESCO, Vetslav Geras (Poland), Director of Wroclaw Festival, Jolanta Sutowich (Germany), Maria Tanana (Lithuania) and other were among the honourable guests. Popular and young Armenian artists also participated in the festival. In recent years Armenian participants received invitations to participate in this or that prestigious mono festivals and returned with awards, Grand Prix. Since 2009, the festival is held not only in the capital city, but also in the marzes of Armenia - Syunik, Lori, Tavush, Kotayk. The festival presented nearly 30 performances; it had 60 participants and around 2000 attendees.
Leonid Yengibaryan International Mime Festival is held in the open air; all the performances are given both in the parks of Tsakhkadzor and on open stages placed in the central square. During the festival, a separate programme also engages the audience through master classes and lectures. Within the framework of the festival, 43 performances were given, 34 theatre companies of 6-7 countries each year, and it had more than 10000 attendees. In addition to Armenian theatre companies, the students and graduates of Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography give performances during the festival, as well as pupils of the School for hard of hearing children also engage therein. The 1st World Mime Conference on "The physical impression of gestures as a prerequisite for aesthetic emotions" was held in 2016.
Each year the "High Fest" International Theatre Festival has different titles, in particular:
In 2016, it was "Realise your dream with "High Fest"" (250 participants from 20 countires). Remarkable performances of the festival included "Seven Moons" of the Ilkhom Theatre (Uzbekistan), "Auction of Souls" of Maxim Gorky Theatre directed by famous Canadian-Armenian actress Arsinee Khanjian (Germany), "The Karamazov Brothers" of Nebolshoy Drama Theatre (Saint Petersburg). Within the framework of events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia, the international conference on "Contemporary theatre" was held jointly with Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography.
In 2017, it was "We are 15 years old young" (200 participants and guests from 20 countries). Within the framework of the IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) "Caravan" programme took place, the aim of which was to disclose the current theatrical situation in the Caucasus.
In 2018, it was "Hight Fest is your PASS to the world of theatre" (more than 250 participants and guests from 22 countries). The remarkable performances of the festival included "Mamaza" dance performance by "Fabrice Mazliah" of Germany, "Broadway Hits" of the Theatre of Musical Comedy of Saint Petersburg.
Within the framework of "High Fest", the European Festivals Association (EFA) has implemented the programme entitled "Europe for festivals and festivals for Europe". This programme was aimed at integrating the performing arts of the region into the European festival environment. The programme "Eastern Dance Partnership" took place, which pursued an aim to present the contemporary dance and dance arts, created by the best Polish artists, teachers and professionals.
In 2019, it was "Meaning is now" (more than 310 participants and guests from 29 countries).
In 2019, the EFA (European Festivals Association) chose "High Fest" International Performing Arts Festival from among 715 European festivals and included in the list of 24 best festival laureates. The EFFE award ceremony was held at BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels.

MUSIC PROGRAMMES:
In the past four years in the field of music a concert programme was implemented in collaboration with foreign and Armenian ensembles, musicians, conductors, which included diversity of genres and traditions -- classics, folk, ethnographic, jazz, avant-garde, etc.
In music, the diversity in genre and participation is ensured also by "Yerevan Perspectives", "Aram Khachaturian" International Festival of Classical Music, "Yerevan, as well as Viola and Cello festival named after Henrik and Geronti Talalyan, Armenian and Foreign Contemporary Composition Art (Armenian Contemporary Music, Armenian Composition Art) Festivals".
In 2016-2019, "Yerevan Perspectives" International Music Festival has presented a range of events and initiatives which left indelible mark on our cultural life.
High-ranked musicians of the world visited Armenia, they had joint performances with their Armenian counterparts, meetings of minds in a special format were organised, concerts -- in marzes, master classes --- on different platforms.
Renowned soprano Renee Fleming, "Hortus Musicus" Medieval Ensemble, Pianist Evgeny Kissin, violist Yuri Bashmet and "Moscow Soloists" Chamber Orchestra, legendary pianist Ivo Pogorelich and Sir Andras Schiff, Vienna Boys Choir, famous Armenian soprano residing in France Lianna Harutyunyan, legendary British vocal group "The Swingle Singers" having won 5 Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, Amandinda Percussion Group, Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsuji blind from birth, cellist Gautier Capucon, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by world-famous conductor Neeme Jarvi, Polish accordionist Maciej Tworek, Grammy Award-winning, famous American-Armenian violist Kim Kashkashian and exclusive percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman performed during the festival.
Master classes and meetings of minds took place at Byurakan Art Academy, Music College named after Romanos Melikyan, Gyumri branch of Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, Music School No 1 in Vanadzor.
The International Festival named after Aram Khachaturian has its unique place in the cultural life of the Republic, which, by its nature, is the only one in the region and it also expands beyond the limits of the country: Russia, Italy, Belgium, France -- the non-exhaustive list of the countries where the festival concerts were presented.
Each year, in the autumn in Yerevan, the brightest stars of the world of the classical music -- Krzysztof Penderecki, Alexander Romanovsky, Karen Shahgaldian, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Mayu Kishima, Maria Domashenko, Nin Fen, Zakhar Bron, Maxim Vengerov and others come together to jointly create a platform for establishment and strengthening of international and cultural ties, which is the basis for fruitful dialogue of not only different nations, but also the entire civilized world. The Khachaturian festival had 93 concerts taken place, including 31 Armenian and 5 world premieres. The Festival is truly a classical music holiday; simultaneously its doors are open to jazz and other genres of world music. It offers the audience a wide range of music impressions, starting from symphony concerts to chamber evenings. Each autumn the Khachaturian festival hosts more than 18.000 concert-goers.
In 2019, "Contemporary Classics" Composers' Festival was held for the first time.
This one-of-a-kind music event presented to the audience a whole constellation of world-famous composers in one place. Within the framework of the festival, legendary composers of our age from across the world, such as China, Georgia, Poland, Malta, Russia, Latvia, the United Kingdom and, of course, Armenia, visited Armenia.
"Contemporary Classics" Composers' Festival gave the music-loving audience an exclusive opportunity to enjoy the works of acclaimed composers of our age by the live performance of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and world-famous virtuosos.
Due to this unique project, Tigran Mansuryan, Qigang Chen, Giya Kancheli, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alexey Shor, Georgs Pelecis, Alexander Chaykovsky and Karl Jenkins presented their compositions on one stage in Armenia. The beautiful conpositions of composers were performed by world-famous musicians, such as Maurio Brunello, Gidon Kremer, Boris Berezovsky, Darya Chaykovskayan, Yuri Bashmet and others.
One of the forms of musical diversity is the jazz music. In November 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared 30 April as the International Jazz Day. Starting from 2012, that event has been organised each year and it has been celebrated grandly in Yerevan and in the other marzes of Armenia. Armenia is officially considered as a member country of the international network. Each year the International Jazz Day is celebrated in Yerevan, within the framework of which world-famous artists and famous Armenian groups and individual performers (four-time Grammy Award-winning Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Tavitjan Brothers Trio, Goran Gesovski, Richard Bona, Chico Freeman and others) performed.
The mission of development, popularising of jazz music is carried out by "Yerevan Jazz Fest" Annual Jazz Festival. Within the framework of the festival Grammy-winning artists visited Armenia, such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marcus Miller, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Artur Sandoval, Stanley Clarke, etc; around 27 concerts, more than 25 000 concert-goers, more than 90 popular musicians from more than 15 countries, representatives in 3 countries of the world. The festival is held both in Yerevan (4 concert days), and in other countries of Armenia for one day. The festival includes movie screenings, master classes, exchange of experience, concert performances, official meetings, visits to historical and cultural centers. The primary aim of the festival is to develop the cultural tourism, restore the reputation of Yerevan as the capital of jazz, cooperate with tour agencies and institutions, thus ensuring the tourist inflow during the festival. When drawing up the programme emphasis is placed on the joint performances of invited artists and Armenian jazzmen, thus presenting to the audience unique and special performances.
In this musical mosaic a special place is given to the programmes for young audience, in particular "7" concert programme dedicated to the International Children's Day. This interactive concert event was accompanied by classical music (Symphony No 40 by Mozart, Sabre Dance by Khachaturian, Spring by Vivaldi, etc.), educational and informative stories. Within the framework of the project, interesting stories associated with number 7 were presented, i.e. 7 notes, 7 colours of the rainbow, 7 days of the week, 7 wonders.

PROGRAMMES IMPLEMENTED IN THE FIELD OF VISUAL ARTS:
The programmes for popularising and developing Armenian contemporary visual arts are aimed at creating new exhibitions, presenting the Armenian contemporary art on international prestigious platforms, organising designated events in Armenia, organising exhibitions dedicated to individual and jubilee, as well as memorable dates of renowned artists.
In particular:
The competition for the slogan and symbol of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Armenia and May heroic fights, "Sunny Dragon" International Graphic Humour Festival headed "Welcome to Armenia" in the city of Goris (caricatures from 46 countries were exhibited), "Armenian Palette" Armenian Chinese Plenary exhibition in the Tumanyan region of Lori Marz, mobile photo exhibition headed "Ararat through the eyes of an Armenian" at Tekeyan Centre, which was exhibited also in Gyumri, "Land of Vitality" Exhibition, within the framework of which the works of more than 40 painters and sculptors were presented.
More than 20 individual exhibitions of a number of artists were held, including "Abrahamians" exhibition, "Bronze Age of Benik Petrosyan" Retrospective Exhibition dedicated to the 20th death anniversary of sculptor Benik Petrosyan, individual exhibitions dedicated to the 90th anniversary of artist and sculptor Vanik Khachatryan (Van Khachatur), to the 80th anniversary and 90th anniversary of Hrant Tadevosyan and Stepan Andranikyan, People's Artists of the Republic of Armenia, to the 85th anniversary of painter Karen Smbatyan, "Memory Loft" Exhibition of own analog photos by sculptor Ashot Harutyunyan, "Environmental Protection through the language of Visual Arts" Exhibition, Gold Medal-winning "The Fly" and "Evolution" multimedia exhibition of artworks by Arman Nur, the exhibition of "SUNMAN" art project by artist Ashot Tatevosyan and "Illusion and Reality" Exhibition by France-based Armenian artists Gevorg and Vardan Tarloyans, and <> feature photography exhibition by photographer Vram Hakobyan in Bonn (the Federal Republic of Germany).
The catalogue of works presented in the above-mentioned exhibition was published.
In 2018, a section entitled "Current Armenian Palette" opened on the official website of the the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, under which portrait essays on visual arts masters of our age (artists, sculptors, designers) were published regularly. The aim is to popularise the works of artists ensuring today's artistic development, so that the art-loving public and particularly our young generation could see them.

PROGRAMMES FOR CULTURAL EDUCATION:
In 2018-2019, in the field of cultural education many crucial processes took place for pupils of schools of general education in all domains of the art and they were conditioned by the implementation of designated programmes "Introduction of Subscription Programme", "DasA", "Your Art at School", "Class+Classsics".
"DasA" is aimed at familiarising pupils with classical music through specially prepared interactive materials.
The programme is intended for pupils of high schools of Yerevan. According to the format of the Programme, meeting-classes were held at schools and "Aram Khachatruian" Concert Hall, which were conducted by Sergey Smbatyan, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, orchestral musicians, as well as invited soloists performing with the orchestra. Within the framework of the programme, around 13300 pupils of 35 schools participated in 18 concerts, and around 2000 returned to the concert hall. The monitoring of the return was implemented by "DasA" application specially created for the programme. Then, a gala-concert was organised solely for the participants of the programme.
The Programme "Your Art at School" is aimed at developing critical, analytical and creative thinking, increasing interest in classical music and visual arts, appreciating contemporary artists, popularising their activities, establishing direct contact and communication between artists and pupils. Within the framework of the programme, 43 artsits and theorists, by drawing lots, had the opportunity to bring to life their projects at around 1290 schools of general education in Yerevan and marzes of the Republic of Armenia (each participant in 30 schools). The Programmes covers three main dimensions -- classical music, visual arts and literature.
The programme "Subscription System" enables around 380.000 pupils and teachers, regardless of social status, place of residence and access to cultural institutions, to participate in the cultural event, by ensuring for schoolchildren the minimum opportunity to exercise the right to cultural education, simultaneously providing the cultural institutions with the opportunity to have more visitors and compete with other cultural centres on equal footing to have more visitors. In 2019, under the subscription programme 116037 pupils and 7121 teachers visited museums, 2546 pupils and teachers visited concert halls, and 2546 pupils and 154 teachers visited theatre and concert centres.
The programme "Class+Classics" solely refers to the theatre arts, and 250 pupils submitted an application for participation in it. The participants were given time to write an essay on the topic dedicated to the Armenian theatre arts. As a result of summerisation of the results of the essay 60 pupils were selected, of which 55 received a certificate for participation in the programme. They had the opportunity to participate for free in the seminar-lectures on the topics "The history of theatre", "The art of acting", "Stage direction", "Engagement of other types of the art in the theatre", "Organisation of theatrical business", which were conducted by the best specialists of the field: Henrik Hovhannisyan, theatrologist, corresponding member of the National Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia, Merited Artists of the Republic of Armenia Ruben Babayan, Nelli Kheranyan, Davit Hakobyan, People's Artist of the Republic of Armenia Armen Elbakyan and other famous theatrologists and other cultural figures. The five-day lectures were also accompanied by seeing performances.
The above-mentioned programmes were included in the long-range programmes of the Ministry as effective projects.

OPERATIVE STRATEGY OF UNESCO ABOUT YOUTH
Programmes for promoting young creatives and creative groups are annually extended, by establishing a relevant platform for their self-manifestation, improving professional skills, providing favourable conditions for development of their creativity, which is conditioned by competitions held in different fields of art, festivals, shows, awards, organising and participation in master classes in reputable Armenian and foreign studios, tours, performances and designated programmes.
International and Republican competition-festivals held in the field of music each year -- 26 (international -- 6, Republican -- 20) in 2016-2019, provide opportunity to creatives and groups to appear before the public and professional commissions on equal footing. The participation in such projects provides young people with opportunity to enter into professional creative field. In the past four years "Debut" Young Armenian Composers Festival, "Renaissance" International Competition-Festival for Musicians in Gyumri, Armenian Song Competition-Festival by "Zvartnots Renaissance" Foundation, Republican Competition of Performing Arts of Chamber Ensembles, Republican Competition for Young Accompanists named after Hegine Ter-Ghevondyan, Republican Competition for Soloists (classical singing). The best young musicians having participated in the competitions held in the Republic joined the creative staff of not only national, but also foreign leading opera houses and orcheatra.
In the past four years, the Aram Khachaturian International Competition established since 2003 is held, as is the tradition of the competition, in Yerevan on 6-14 July each year.
The competition is aimed at identifying talented young musicians in four professions (piano, violin, cello, conductorship). By the unanimous decision of the World Fenderation of International Music Competitions, in 2017 another profession -- vocal, is added to the Khachaturian International Competition.
The Board of Trustees of the Competition is comprised of world-famous figures, such as Prof. Jonathan Freeman-Antwood, Konstantin Orbelyan, Prof. Reinhart von Gutzeit, Pavel Kogan, Elzbieta Penderecka, John Fisher, Rezo Kiknadze, Mark Zilberquit and others.
The geography of participants is quite broad: the competition hosts young musicians from the CIS countries, the USA, Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Great Britain, China and many other countries. In the reporting period, 93 musicians (piano -- 25, cello -- 16, vocal -- 38, conductorship -- 14) participated in the competition.
Over the years, the leading specialists of the field -- Grigori Zhislin (Great Britian), Jean Ter-Merkerian (France), Zakhar Bron (Germany), Vladimir Landsman (Canada), Jasper Parrott (Great Britain), Chun Pan (China), Boris Kushnir (Austria), Sergey Kravchenko (Russia), Alexander Sokolov (Russia), Svetlanna Navasardyan (Armenia), Isabel Bayrakdarian (Canada), Meehae Ryo (Korea) and others, have joined the composition of the jury. Such names already ensure the impartiality of the competition and serve as a guarantee of high reputation and good name.
Due to international reputation growing every year, the competition has been included in the composition of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC), constituting a part of big and prestigious family, to which world-famous competitions have joined, such as the International Chaykovski Competition, the Queen Elizabeth Competition (Brussels) and Montreal International Competition.
In 2016, a concert titled "Generation of Independence", dedicated to the 25th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Armenia was held. This programme was unprecedent by its volume and coverage: 700 minor and teen musicians at the age of 7-20 gathered, creating the orchestra and chorus named "Generation of Independece". Teens and young people having arrived from different places had the opportunity to be part of this large-scale programme, appear before the world and present the Armenian cultural potential. All the members of the created orchestra and chorus were born in the period of independence. They were born, received education in the years of independence and presented the achievements of independence.
This project was also an attempt to find the composers in different, even in the furthest corners of Armenia and Artsakh and give them opportunity for self-manifestation.
In 2016, the Young Artists Opera Programme was created at A. Spendaryan National Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre. To date, more than 25 gifted young people have been directly involved in the programme and they have won both on Armenian and international prestigious stages (prize of the President of the Republic of Armenia, International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, "Big Opera" International Competition-TV show, Delphic Games of the CIS countries, Minsk International Christmas, Pyongyang International Competition, Aram Khachaturian International Competition for Vocalists, Vyatskoye International Compeitition, Klaudia Taev Competition, Tenor Vinas International Competition, Gohar Gasparyan Pan-Armenian Solo Singing Competition, etc.) The soloists of the Programme have participated in master classes in Germany, Russia, Estonia, Italy, Romania and other countries.

The aim of the programme is the identification of talented young opera artists, creation of a new generation of competitive singers in compliance with international standards, ensuring of smooth succession of generations at A. Spendaryan National Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre, as well as comprehensive development and improvement of soloists in the art of vocal.
From September to December 2019, an educational and cultural programme was implemented with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culutre and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, which was considered to be concerts and master classes for students of music, general education and cultural centres of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh. Within the framework of the programme, 7 concerts and master classes in total were held in Ararat, Shirak, Tavush Marzes of the Republic of Armenia, and in Yerevan. As a result of master classess, 15 soloists from the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh received non-formal education, by relating to the performing skills of the classical opera.
In the field of cinema -- "Yerevan Short Films", "ONE SHOT" International Short Film Festivals for filmmakers, Debut Film Project Production, debut film project workshops and competitions at Gaiff.Pro Regional Film Market, in which more than 76 film projects participated.
In the field of visual arts, the thematic exhibition-competition of young creatives dedicated to the feast of St. Sarkis, Patron of Love and Youth, in which more than 30 young painters and sculptors participated.
The programmes aimed at identification and promotion of the potential of young people, constitute an integral part of projects implemented in the field of theatre arts (festivals, programs, awards).
88 young creatives (theatre arts, cinema, music, dance, visual arts) and more than 10 creative groups of the Republic have participated in more than than 50 international projects (festivals, competitions, master classes, tours).