Interview with artistic director and chief conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Armenia, talented Sergey Smbatyan.
—Mister Smbatyan, It is hard to reach the heights at such young age. Wasn’t it hard? Did the “Old Wolves” try to make barriers for you?
—I don’t think it’s easy to get anything in life. Any achievement needs hard work, devotion, belief in your initiatives. If you have all of this and supporters, then you can get to anywhere with united work and any pressure is easy to endure. Artistic people love freedom, that’s the first precondition of creative work. Pressure on human relations will take place only if you let them pressure you. I haven’t come across such situations.
— You are one of the representatives of Yerevan’s cultural life and are dealing with representatives of culture and show-business. How are you feeling in that atmosphere? Do you have friends?
-Naturally, I have friends; I mix with representatives of all fields of show-business. I respect them all. I respect the cultural atmosphere that is created in Armenia and am a particle of it myself and can’t isolate myself from it. The other thing is that there are some phenomena that I don’t like but still they don’t bother me.
-It was your birthday on September 23rd. Who did you celebrate it with? What gifts did you get?
-According to tradition, I spent my birthday with my family in a warm company. I don’t like big parties.
-Armenian conductors’ school had many famous names, do you believe that the new generation will be able to continue their work and in general, what perspectives do Armenians have?
-Armenia’s conductor school has many good traditions and today they are on a firm base. We have good conductors both in Armenia and abroad. I don’t accept the notion that the old generation is better than the new one. I also don’t accept any word concerning the end of the world. Every generation has its own impact on development progress. Times and demands change so we must be able to keep going and save our traditions.
-Have they ever tried to plunge you into political games, for instance, into campaigns? What was your attitude to it? Do you have political views; are you interested in events taking place in the country? Are you taking part at the elections?
-Naturally, as RA citizen, I’m interested in the events taking place in my country. However, my professional work and music are taking my entire time. I have my own views about politics, political culture, however I’m not professional in that field and I will keep myself away from giving any opinion. Sometimes, culture is a powerful weapon in politics than any other thing.
You can solve many issues with culture. Cultural politics are closer to my heart.
-With your talent you can live and work in any other country. How did it happen that you were not seduced by living in stability and comfort? Is it principal for you to live in the motherland?
-I have many suggestions of working abroad. However, accepting them would have been the easiest thing to do. I’m trying to prove that one can have stability and comfort in Armenia too.
Interview by: Mariam Margaryan
