Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the ceremonial unveiling of the nameplate of Hovhannes Chekijian, laureate of the USSR and Armenian SSR State Prizes, conductor, National Hero of Armenia, and leader of the National Academic Choir of Armenia, at the building of the Armenian National Academic Choir at Pushkin 60.

By decision of the Government, the Armenian National Academic Choir was named after Hovhannes Chekijian. The purpose of the renaming is to honor Hovhannes Chekijian’s long-term contribution.

Before the unveiling of the nameplate, Maestro Chekijian’s rehearsal with the choir took place.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude for the activities of the maestro and the choir: “Dear Mr. Chekijian, dear maestro, I bow to you, to your activities. We talk a lot about values and a value-based society, and undoubtedly, the value that you have created is one of our most memorable and notable achievements of the last century. And it is no coincidence that the Republic of Armenia, in recognition of these achievements, has awarded you the title of National Hero of the Republic of Armenia. I only regret one thing: we still cannot find the formulas so that what you present becomes accessible to as many people as possible.”

Speaking about the relationship between art-culture and man, the Prime Minister noted that he cannot imagine culture, art that is not for man. “We talk so much about welfare, what is that welfare? I cannot imagine welfare when a person does not have access to culture. We say that a person should have access to drinking water and food, but that is not well-being, it is a means survival. In my opinion, a person also has access to culture, and for me the biggest indicator of poverty in Armenia is that people do not have enough access to cultural life," said Nikol Pashinyan, expressing hope that this access will be ensured as a result of the government's policies.

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The Armenian National Academic Choir was founded in 1937 as a collective of the Armenian Philharmonic consisting of 25-30 people. Since 1961, the artistic director and principal conductor of the choir has been maestro Hovhannes Chekijian. Since 1969, the choir has been awarded the title of "Academic", since 1975 it has been an Honored Collective of the Republic. On November 15, 2012, by the decision of the Government, the choir was granted the status of "National". Under the leadership of Chekijian, the choir has performed at 184 of the best concert venues in the world: in Paris, London, New York, Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc. During these years, the choir has had 866 concerts outside of Armenia. The choir, led by the maestro, has also performed with 69 renowned symphony orchestras, including the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra, and the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra.