David Mnatsakanyan: I hope the rumors about the possible closure of the Yerevan Conservatory are not true

Soviet and Russian diplomat and composer David Mnatsakanyan wrote an open letter to the Chairman of the Union of Composers of Armenia, Aram Satyan, in connection with the possible closure of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan.

“I learned from the Armenian media about the scandal that is raging in Yerevan around the possible closure of the Komitas State Conservatory, the only professional music university in the country. As a Russian composer of Armenian origin, I do not consider it right to remain indifferent to such reports, although they have not been officially confirmed. I fully share the sincere concern of the Armenian music community and the disagreement of Armenian cultural figures with the future of the only specialized university in the country, founded over a century ago, in 1923. I would like to remind you that the high status of a culture is a sign of the independence of any state. 

In this regard, I consider it appropriate to refer to a well-known historical fact: during the war with Hitler, when Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort, he asked the ministers, ‘then what are we fighting for?’

I believe that in the modern conditions of increasing globalization, leading to deep contradictions around cultural and civilized diversity, it is necessary to direct efforts towards the revival of Armenian classical music (Alexander Spendiaryan, Aram Khachaturian, Arno Babajanyan, Edvard Mirzoyan, etc.) rather than on dubious structural transformations. I hope that the rumors about the possible closure of the Yerevan Conservatory will not be confirmed and will not become a reality,” the diplomat wrote.