The former Opera Club space is planned for chamber music, children’s opera and ballet, and young performers. An inaugural concert is scheduled for November 1, before refurbishment is finished.
Armenia’s Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre has regained 1,050 square metres of its building for a small concert hall. Theatre management plans to open it on 1 November with a concert by pianist Hayk Melikyan, although renovation is still under way.
The Opera Club used the space for many years beginning in the 1990s. At a 26 October briefing covered by Civic.am, Armenia’s deputy minister of education, science, culture and sports Tigran Virabyan said the state helped return it to the theatre. The theatre plans to use the hall for chamber concerts and children’s opera and ballet, giving it a performance space beyond its main stage.
The 1 November opening falls on the 155th anniversary of Spendiaryan’s birth. Melikyan is scheduled to play works by Spendiaryan and other Armenian composers at the inaugural concert, Armenpress said.
Theatre management has decided to hold concerts and performances while renovation continues. The hall is expected to have new seating and finished interiors by February. Virabyan said the theatre’s main stage was carrying its heaviest workload of the post-Soviet period and that the new hall would offer another venue, as Public Radio of Armenia reported.
The theatre plans New Year performances for children in December, with shows at noon and 2 p.m. Director Karen Durgaryan said it wants children to experience attending opera and ballet. The theatre already has a children’s choir and plans performances by children for children.
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Virabyan said young creators and independent performers will also be able to appear in the hall. Durgaryan said rehearsal rooms and a museum are planned for the returned space.
Her 16 September–October shows grossed $125.5 million and sold 539,000 tickets, setting records for revenue and attendance per performance.
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Update ·
This revision adds the inaugural concert programme, December children’s showtimes and plans to finish the hall’s seating and interiors by February.
