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On September 20 Ian Gillan Will Take Part In Opening Ceremony Of Mus

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  • On September 20 Ian Gillan Will Take Part In Opening Ceremony Of Mus

    ON SEPTEMBER 20 IAN GILLAN WILL TAKE PART IN OPENING CEREMONY OF MUSIC SCHOOL IN ARMENIA

    Mediamax, Armenia
    July 10 2013

    Yerevan /Mediamax/. The construction of N6 music school in Gyumri
    realized within the joint project of Mediamax, Fund for Armenian Relief
    (FAR) and Australian Do Something organization is drawing to an end.

    The interior works in the school will be completed soon. Owing
    to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund's support, the school will be newly
    furnished.

    The solemn opening ceremony will be held on September 20. Rock star,
    Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan with his wife and Managing Director
    of Do Something, initiator of Rock Aid Armenia project Jon Dee will
    take part in the event.

    The construction of Gyumri N6 music school will mark the logical end
    of Rock Aid Armenia project started back in 1989.

    A few months after the devastating Spitak earthquake (1988) that
    killed 25 thousand Armenians and left hundreds of thousands homeless,
    24 year old Jon Dee organized the Rock Aid Armenia project in London.

    British rock stars recorded a top 40 cover version of Deep Purple's
    Smoke on the Water and helped to release the special "Earthquake
    Album". Revenue from the single and album sales was contributed as
    aid to Armenia.

    Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi in Armenia in 2009.

    Photo: PanArmenian Photo.

    In 2009, Mediamax decided to honor the participants of Rock Aid
    Armenia and contacted Jon Dee who lives in Australia and heads the
    Do Something organization that he set up with tennis star and former
    Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. As Jon was planning to re-release Rock Aid
    Armenia's Smoke on the Water to raise additional funds for Armenia,
    Mediamax and Do Something joined forces to implement the Armenia
    Grateful 2 Rock / Rock Aid Armenia project.

    In October 2009, Mediamax invited Ian Gillan from Deep Purple, Tony
    Iommi from Black Sabbath, Geoff Downes from Yes/Asia and Jon Dee to
    Armenia. Under the Armenian President's decree, they were awarded
    an Order of Honor. It was later that Brian May from Queen and David
    Gilmour from Pink Floyd were given their Orders of Honors by the
    Armenian Embassy in London.

    Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Geoff Downes and Jon Dee visited the Octet
    Music School in Gyumri during their trip to Armenia. If there has ever
    existed a painful blend of poverty and talent, then it was vividly
    exposed at the Gyumri Octet School of Music. Many of the students come
    from underprivileged families in Gyumri. Their music school has been
    made up of "domiks" (metal sheet dwellings) that were left over from
    the 1988 earthquake. The promise to rebuild these temporary premises
    with a proper building has not happened. Despite their dilapidated
    premises, the Octet Music School has kept producing talent year
    after year.

    The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) has been sponsoring the
    underprivileged students of the School for many years. A hint of hope
    came to the school about 5 years ago when a very special couple from
    the United States, Mr. and Mrs. Edward and Janet Mardigian visited
    the students, accompanied by the FAR Board of Directors. "I would
    never forget those children, tears were coming to my eyes every time
    I recalled their beautiful musical performance" - said Mrs. Janet
    Mardigian. They have never stopped thinking about the ways that they
    could help the children.

    The children's performance also struck the rock heroes Ian Gillan,
    Tony Iommi and Geoff Downes. Together with Jon Dee, they announced
    that they would help to rebuild the school. By the end of 2009, FAR,
    Mediamax and Do Something signed a trilateral agreement to achieve
    this outcome.

    In March 2010, Mediamax and Do Something organized two charitable
    concerts by Ian Gillan with the Armenian Symphonic Orchestra in
    Yerevan. General sponsorship of the concerts by leading Armenian
    mobile operator VivaCell-MTS allowed to raise 45.000 USD. A total of
    USD 110.000 has been raised for rebuilding the school - the Armenian
    Government, Geoff Downes, EMI Records and Orange Armenia also made
    contributions. The project always enjoyed the personal support of
    the Armenian President Serzh Sargsian.

    In 2010, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi set up the WhoCares ad-hoc
    super-group to raise funds for the Octet school. In May 2011, Edel
    Music released the first single by WhoCares with 2 brand new songs
    - Out of My Mind and Holy Water. In July 2012, Edel Music released
    the WhoCares album that comprises the 2 songs from the single and
    unreleased and rare material from Gillan and Iommi's back catalogue.

    Gillan and Iommi made an advance payment of 15.000 USD for the school
    and the rest will be transferred after the album sales.

    In July 2012 the FAR Board briefed the Mardigian Family Foundation
    about these extensive fundraising efforts. The following day, the
    Foundation informed FAR that it will almost triple the funds raised
    so far. This generous donation was extremely important and it allowed
    FAR, Mediamax and Do Something to launch the construction of the
    school in August 2012. -

    http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/society/7705/

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