“Sergey Smbatyan has a unique perception of sound himself, that’s why his orchestra sounds so good.”, Maxim Vengerov remarks

The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra has recently performed several concerts in Israel. Performed on March 2 to 5, the concert series of the orchestra received warm acclamations of the full audience in a welcoming atmosphere. One of the concerts of the ASSO featured the Grammy award winner violinist Maxim Vengerov, performing as a soloist. The celebrated violinist is also the resident artist of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra throughout its current concert season. The Israel concerts were the 10th joint performance events of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and Maxim Vengerov within the past 4 months. The audience was impressed with the performing harmony and artistic excellence of the Armenian musicians and the virtuoso soloist, resonating with admiration and warm applauses. The Seminary members of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem were also attending the concert to enjoy musical masterpieces by Bach, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Shor and Khachaturian. Maxim Vengerov stressed his pleasure to cooperate with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. “First of all I wish to speak of this great unity of Sergey Smbatyan and the orchestra. I think it’s rare nowadays that there is a leader behind a great ensemble. Maestro Smbatyan has proven himself as a great conductor over the years. Besides the friendship that we have, I personally enjoy very much our professional relationship. Sergey Smbatyan has a unique perception of sound himself, that’s why his orchestra sounds so good. We need conductors not only to organize the musicians to play together, but also to bring in their artistic vision, and, most of all, the sound they have within. I really enjoy playing with this orchestra and I think we have a great chemistry. We become better and better together with each concert. We had 8-9 concerts in Europe and also in Armenia, and now in Israel. I am very happy to have this creative collaboration as a resident artist of this orchestra.”