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The Georgian Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1961.

Talented young musicians from various ensembles including The Orchestra of Tbilisi Opera Theatre, Radio Symphony Orchestra, Students of The Tbilisi Conservatory formed The Georgian Chamber Orchestra.

Musicians worked for 3 years without any payments or funds.

The Orchestra was officially recognized as The Georgian Chamber Orchestra in 1964.

One of its first initiatives was to involve the well-known and upcoming composers to produce music for The Orchestra. This was accomplished through an established Georgian composer and chair of composition at the Tbilisi State Conservatory;, Alexander Toradze. Toradze was keen to support this group on the condition that The Georgian Chamber Orchestra would perform traditional Georgian music in their repertoire. And so, the repertoire was rich with music that was written especially for the orchestra by well-known composers such as Gia Kanchelli, Sulhan Nasidze, Revaz Gabichvadze, Sulkhan Tsintsadze (composed Sachidao for Georgian Chamber Orchestra).

The Orchestra was founded by Alexander Begelfor (administrator and double bass) and Givi Azmaiparashvili (chief conductor). After some time, Givi resigned and The Georgian Chamber Orchestra functioned without a conductor, as many chamber orchestras do.

The orchestra’s first cello was the talented musician and composer Eduard Sanadze. He was a fellow student with Alex and musician at The Tbilisi State Conservatory. He joined The Orchestra as lead cello and temporary conductor.

Otar Taktakishvili (then Georgian Minister for Culture) recommended Marina Yashvili as a suitable candidate for the role of conductor.

Marina Yashvili (student of David Oistrach) took the role of conductor for The Orchestra in 1967.