Civilnet
By Lia Avagyan
The Kapan International Music Festival will return to the southern Armenian town of Kapan for its third annual edition this summer, featuring a star-studded international lineup and a series of cultural premieres from July 4 to 15.
The headline act of this year’s festival is the legendary pianist Martha Argerich, who received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016 and will be performing in Armenia for the first time. She joins a roster of distinguished musicians, including Marian Petrescu, Arturo Solar, Theodosia Ntokou, Francesco Vila, Dong-Hyek Lim, and Iddo Bar-Shai, among others.
Expanding its artistic reach, the festival will introduce electronic music to its program for the first time, with a performance by German multi-instrumentalist Philipp Johann Thimm. It will also feature a rare exhibition of historic 18th-century string instruments, including violins crafted by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, curated by violin maker Florian Leonhard.
Held at the Kapan Organ Hall, the festival will offer daily concerts and workshops. Over 50 young musicians from Armenia, Denmark, Slovakia, and Portugal will perform alongside professionals and learn from internationally acclaimed mentors.
Among the returning artists are Hayk Kazazyan, Marianna Shirinyan, Julien Libeer, and Hrachya Avanesyan, who have been supporting the festival since its inception. This year’s program will also include performances by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra led by Sergey Smbatyan, and feature Armenian soloists Astrig Siranossian, Ruzan Mantashyan, and Miqayel Voskanyan.
“This festival started as a dream to bring musical revival to Armenia,” said Sevak Avanesyan, the festival’s founder and a renowned cellist. “In just three years, Kapan Fest has grown into a global celebration of cultural resilience, artistic excellence, and community spirit.”
The festival is backed by a diverse group of supporters, including the Kapan Municipality, Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, AGBU France, the EU Delegation to Armenia, and the embassies of Belgium, Switzerland, and Argentina. Additional support comes from Pirastro, Goethe-Institut, Karas Wines, and a number of private sponsors and cultural organizations.
Kapan Fest, now in its third year, is fast emerging as one of the region’s leading cultural events, aiming to foster international dialogue and artistic innovation in Armenia’s Syunik province.
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