Yerevan’s Tchaikovsky Music School undergoing major makeover

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. With the sponsorship of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Eastern US affiliate, extensive renovations are being carried out at Yerevan’s Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School.

“Armenpress” was informed by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund that the campus was built in 1973. The refurbishment today encompasses all three of the school’s buildings, which have a total area of 4,958 square meters. The large-scale renovations include a complete structural redesign, seismic retrofitting, and the construction of evacuation staircases and an additional floor atop the central-entrance section.

Many of the key components of the project have already been completed: the stairways have been repaired; the doors and windows, as well as the heating, electrical, water, and plumbing systems have been replaced; air-conditioning and fire-protection water system have been installed. Other improvements have included the construction of wheelchair ramps.

Currently crews are installing fire-alarm and video-surveillance systems, constructing a new roof, and installing an elevator. In the forthcoming phase of the project, a new stage will be built inside the concert hall and the school yard will be overhauled, with upgraded lighting and the installation of pavilions and benches.

The Embassy of People's Republic of China in Armenia has contributed to the project by donating musical instruments worth U.S. $10,000 to the school.

In recent years, Hayastan Fund has implemented two other projects at the school. In 2011, the fund’s Swiss affiliate sponsored the establishment of a music library at the campus, complete with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment and new music instruments. A year later, the fund’s Australian affiliate provided the school with new furniture.

Last year, the Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding. Currently the school has 600 students, with a curriculum that combines general secondary and top-notch music education. Renowned composer Aram Khachaturyan has called the storied school a “foundry of musicians.”

Martun Kostandyan, the school’s principal, says that for the past several decades, students of the school have participated in numerous national and international music competitions, and many have gone on to perform as professionals on the stages of some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.

Today the Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School has its own symphony orchestra, string quartet, brass band and choir, as well as a recently formed jazz band. The school’s anthem was composed by alumnus Alexander Harutyunyan.