The capital of Georgia, TBILISI HOSTED THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL MAP THE MUSIC FESTIVAL on May 5-8.

It is a unique project in general, where the world of academic music and the explorations of new original formats collide. Map the Music is a ground breaking festival concept conceived by cellist Boris Andrianov and his friends: businessman IIya Levitov, vocalist and cellist Georgiy Yufa and LavkaLavka marketing director Maria Zhilina. The organizers of the festival in Georgia were Tusi Chogovadze and David Sakvarelidze.

There are many small and big music festivals worldwide. Many of them have permanent residencies and many are distinguished by outstanding musicians. But, Map the Music is principally different from a regular festival format in many aspects: concerts are held for several times a year in different corners of the world, musicians play in the open air and an audience travel together with performers. Most importantly, concert venues are situated in popular tourist areas and can emerge in the most unexpected places – from Montenegro grottoes and castles in the Loire Valley to Norwegian fjords and the Pacific coast, at the edge of the world, near Murmansk, or on the coast of the Arctic Ocean.

This extraordinary project was inspired by an eager search for new forms of academic music. In the minds of Map the Music festival organisers, music is suffocating inside concert halls, preserving its appeal and significance only for a small group of admirers. Experience shows that open air concerts in unusual places change the perception of music, provoke new impressions and audiences grow larger. Moreover, Map the Music is a highly democratic project which grants the general public masterpieces of world music performed by the most outstanding soloists and music ensembles. Map the Music shares a new view on travelling as well, offering a more appealing and meaningful alternative to generic tours.

The project’s leaders and masterminds have emphasised that they would not sacrifice quality over adventures. Map the Music is an international project, putting together winners of the biggest competitions, renowned award winners, worldclass soloists and orchestras. Although academic music is chosen as the main music genre of the festival, the organisers are ready for experiments and collaborations with other musical formats, as well as other art forms.

Tbilisi was chosen as the first stop for the Map the Music project. Georgia is a country of great musical traditions (and traditions of hospitality), and Tbilisi isn’t only the capital of the country, but is the cultural centre, where modernity organically coincides with an atmosphere of ancient times.