ARMENIAN, TURKISH YOUNG MUSICIANS TO GIVE CONCERT IN ISTANBUL

TERT.AM
01.08.12

Istanbul's Bosphorus University will tonight host the Armenian-Turkish
Youth Symphony Orchestra, consisting of 56 young musicians from Turkey
and Armenia, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The concert will be conducted by the Akbank Chamber Orchestra's
conductor Cem Mansur, with pianist Ashot Khachatourian on stage as
the soloist.

Young people from Armenia and Turkey first came together to form an
orchestra in July 2010, with the support of Bosphorus University
and the Turkish non-governmental organization Anadolu Kultur. Cem
Mansur and Nvart Andreasyan were the brains behind the orchestra,
and through it aim to contribute to peace between the two countries.

The orchestra performed three successful cztuoncerts at the Bosphorus
University, Buyukada Island and Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall in its
first year.

The orchestra, which has reunited upon the invitation of the Young
Euro Classic Festival, will also take the stage on Aug. 3 in Berlin,
one of Europe's most lively cultural cities. Two concerts in Istanbul
and Berlin are being organized with support from theGerman and Turkish
foreign ministries, the Enka Cultural Foundation, Tower Tourism and
Fineco. Armenian conductor Andreasyan discussed the orchestra in an
interview with the Hurriyet Daily News in 2010.

"Our plan means gathering young people in an environment where there
is no chance to lose. The environment is international and it is
based in music," she said.

Mansur said their aim was for the young musicians to become friends.

He took part in a similar project in 2008 and 2009 in South Africa,
adding, "In South Africa I conducted an orchestra with youth of
different races and saw the power of music. Before the project
those young people in South Africa hated each other because of the
misunderstandings that their races had gone through. By the end of
our project, those young people hugged each other. Through the power
of music, hatred left and in its place came love."