RIMINI, Italy — Everyone was amazed at the excellence displayed by the young musicians from Armenia. They participated in the International Artistic Days Italia, a festival and contest held in Rimini from June 24-27. The youngsters from Yerevan won several prizes in the competition, four first prizes and seven second prizes, to be precise. The children and youth are all students at the Aleksey Hekimyan Music School in Yerevan, and flew to Venice on June 21, then continued by bus to the magnificent renaissance city, Florence, accompanied by teachers, including Lusine Arakelyan. In Rimini it was music, music, music, and in addition to the festival, they also performed in a concert in San Giovanni Valdarno, organized by the municipality.
Arakelyan beamed with pride that all the students from her school won prizes, and said they had earned the admiration of their audiences for their skill and joy in music. The concert audience was excited about the performance level of the youngsters and marveled at the correct pronunciation in their Italian language selections. Teacher and opera singer Lusine Arakelyan also performed a short song at the conclusion of the program, “Il Bacio” (The Kiss) by Luigi Arditi. All were rewarded with warm and prolonged ovations.
The International Artistic Days are sponsored by several Italian agencies, like the municipalities, regional and provincial governments, the Italy-Russia Friendship Association, diplomatic representatives of Russia, Kazakhstan, San Marino, and of course the Italian Ministry of Culture. The events take place in these and other countries, and bring together young musical talents from all over the world.
