Mrs. Manana Doijashvili passed away

On January 17 2023 Deputy Rector, professor of Tbilisi State Consevatoire, director of the Georgian Music Competitions Foundation, People’s Artist of Georgia, the great pianist Mrs. Manana Doijashvili passed away.
She started piano lessons at the age of 7. Her very first music teacher was an Honored Teacher of the Republic Meri Tchavtchanidze. Manana Doijashvili was only 9 when she played a piano concerto by Haydn (D-major) with the symphony orchestra at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire Grand Hall. She had even greater success after performing a Schumann Piano Concerto as a 12-year-old. Laureate of Trans-Caucasian competition of musician-performers (1965), Mrs. Doijashvili pursues her studies at the Gnessin Institute of Music in Moscow (1966-1967) under the guidance of prof. A. Iocheles; and in 1971 did her Internship with Stanislav Neuhaus at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. 1971-1973 mark her Post Graduate Studies under the mentorship of prof. Tengiz Amirejibi at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, where she has been teaching since 1973 to date; and additionally, she has been the head of the piano department since 2013.
Winning in such international competitions as the G. Enescu International Competition in Bucharest (1970), the B. Smetana Competition (1974) and the First International Piano Competition in Sydney (1977) brought her a worldwide recognition. She has appeared with solo recitals, as well as with chamber and orchestral music concerts in the world’s leading concert halls. Among them are: “Ateneum” (Bucharest), Great and Small Concert Halls of the Moscow Conservatoire, Grand Hall of St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Gevand House (Leipzig), Mozarteum (Salzburg), Sydney Opera House, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Albeniz Hall in Granados and etc. Under her initiative and leadership the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire has been restored and brought back to musical life.
M. Doijashvili herself has become the organizer and inspirer of the “competition movement” in Georgia. She has founded: The Georgian Competition of Musician-Performers (1995), Tbilisi International Piano Competition (1997), The François Leleux Wind Competition” (2001) and The Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (2008). An annual international music festival – “New Year Music Celebrations” – of the Conservatoire Grand Hall was, also, established under her initiative in 1998.
She founded the “International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony” and established the “Traditional Polyphony research center” at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. During the period of her leadership in 2000-2011, the infrastructure of the historical building of the conservatoire was entirely restored and the material and technical base of the conservatoire was created.
People’s Artist of Georgia, M. Doijashvili is the holder of such prestigious awards as: Shota Rustaveli and Zakaria Paliashvili State Prizes, The Presidential “Order of Excellence”, Cavalier of “Officier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” conferred by the Republic of France, the President of Italy Prize “The Star of Solidarity of Italy”, Honorary title of “Envoy of Peace”, conferred by UNO “Peace Embassy”, Cavalier of the Order of honor of Polish Culture. As a member of the jury, she has been invited to such prestigious international competitions, as: Alessandro Cassagrande (Italy), Ferruccio Busoni (Italy), F. Chopin (Warsaw, Poland), A. Khachaturiyan (Armenia), UNISA (South Africa), Sydney (Australia), Jose Iturbi (Spain), F. Liszt (Weimar), Maria Canals (Barcelona), I. Paderewski (Bydgoszcz, Poland), “In Memory of Vladimir Horowitz” (Ukraine), Xiamen, Indianapolis, Rodos and many other International Piano Competitions.
Mrs. Manana’s contribution to the development and progress of classical music art, high-class musical-cultural and educational field in Georgia is immeasurable.
The musical, cultural and general society of Georgia and the world lost a great figure.