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Last Sounds. Mother School as a Stepchild

The building of musical school 1 of Vanadzor is on the edge of collapse. An unattractive environment dominates at school; the walls are wrecking, and the musical instruments becoming unfit for use because of wetness and cold. Year after year the number of musical circles as well as the children decreases.

The school founded in 1934, which later will be named after its founder Eduard Kzartmyan, was the first musical school of Lori region. And its concert hall was the third best hall among all the halls of musical schools in the republic from the viewpoint of acoustics. However the concert hall is condemned to inaction today.

“Once we had a brilliant hall for the whole city, whereas today people avoid of holding concerts here,” says anxiously a school graduate, pianist Karine Hakobyan, who comes to her native school with pain every day. “Our hall must be cared by the government, not to speak of the municipality.”

The problem of the school repair has slipped of the attention of the RA government for many years. This year according to the government decision the repairing works had to be started, but construction competition hasn’t been announced.

Vanadzor municipality assures that the reason is insufficient funding. The cost estimation of musical school conducted in 2008 showed 300 mln ($ 985 000) drams needed for repairing, which was confirmed by the government. 150 mln drams out of the demanded sum had to allot Vanadzor municipality, 50 mln drams – the Lori province administration and the rest 100 mln drams – the government. But according to Gagik Aghababyan, head of Education and Culture Department of Vanadzor municipality, the money, less by 50 mln drams of the intended sum, has been allotted by Vanadzor municipality only.

“We had to start the repairing with at least 200 mln drams, but we hadn’t that sum. There was only 100 mln drams allotted by the municipality, pointless of us to begin repairing. In the case of time and construction stoppage we would have lost the building at all,” says Aghababyan.

During 74 years of its existence musical school 1 graduated such famous composers, violists and pianists for Armenia, such are Stepan Rostomyan, Grisha Hakhinyan, Edik Pashinyan and many others. And the founders of the rest 6 musical schools of Vanadzor are the graduates of mother school.

“During the years of my attendance I had fine impressions on the school. The corridors were covered with carpets, the classes – furnished, warm. I felt I enter an art hearth, which, unfortunately, can’t be said today. What particle of art should receive the pupil, if in the cold room he touches the cold piano keys with his frozen fingers,” says pianist Hakobyan.

In spite of the building inconsolable state the old traditions are yet followed at school. Annual current concerts are held; the school pupils participate in local contests and take the leading places.

“We work, but this kind of work is not effective. The pupil’s psychology is distorted under such conditions. It can’t be imagined this to be a mother school, we have no a status of even a stepchild. This way we’ll lose this serious 74-year-old cultural hearth.”

Today there are keyboard, stringed and wind departments at school. The instruments are not new, but they suffice. Instead there are no necessary conditions to preserve them.

“Here it’s awfully cold in winter. Rather pity for the instruments, than for us. They will serve us long under normal conditions,” is sure Alvard Igityan, head of educational department of musical school.

In 90s the school had 750 pupils, 170 teachers. Today their number has decreased for 7 times. There are 111 pupils and 23 teachers. This year there were a few applicants, some of them have taken their applications back because of the building conditions. “I respect the staff members, but I’m afraid to send my child to a place, where any time the walls can be wrecked,” says a habitant of Vanadzor Liana Ghukasyan.

According to the school principle Norik Etimyan the school repairing will solve also the vagrancy problem of Vanadzor chamber choir, orchestra and choreographic schools, which having no hall conduct their rehearsals in different places.

“All of them should be at our school,” says Norik Etimyan.

At the beginning of November another decision on musical school 1 was adopted at the meeting in Vanadzor held by Armen Gevorgyan, the vice Prime-Minister, Minister of Territorial Administration. According to this decision 365 mln drams is needed for the school repair, 180mln of which will be allotted out of the 2009 budget of Vanadzor municipality and the rest 185 mln will allot the government.

The article was prepared within the framework of the seminar “Raising the Role of the Media in Covering Justice and Law Enforcement System”, organized by “Journalists for the Future” NGO (www.jnews.am).

Source: www.jnews.am