Vale Ara Vartoukian OAM
The ACO is greatly saddened by the passing of our longtime friend, Ara Vartoukian OAM, the founder and director of Theme & Variations Piano Services.
For four decades Theme and Variations has been a pillar of Australia's classical music industry and Ara was widely recognised as one of Australia's leading concert technicians and piano experts. Ara was deeply respected amongst the arts community for his expertise and dedication to music, for which he was awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2016, and he was equally beloved for his generosity and kindness.
Theme & Variations has been a partner of the ACO for more than 20 years, and our relationship with Ara goes back even further. During his time at the at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as the Head of the Piano Tuning school, Ara worked with ACO founder John Painter (then the Director of the Conservatorium) and first got to know a young Richard Tognetti. John brought Ara to the ACO to provide piano tuning services and in Ara's own words, the ACO and Theme & Variations have grown together side by side throughout the years, [through] a mutual connection and passion to bring music into people lives.
Our thoughts and sympathies are with Ara's wife and Theme & Variations co-founder and director Nyree, their sons Haig and Tro and the Theme & Variations family. Ara will be remembered as a master of his craft and a much-loved champion for classical music performance and education, and he will be greatly missed by all of us at the ACO.
Images shown may not represent the original source or owner of the image. Coast Box Office does not warrant the accuracy or validity of News articles and advises visitors to always check the article source for more details.
