A star is being added to the soil of Tbilisi—the star for Gaioz Kandelaki, the art and music guru of his beloved Sakartvelo. This outstanding cultural figure of the country is turning 80 on the 27th of June, and our grateful society is celebrating his octogenarian jubilee. And that’s the day when the beautiful Park of Roses (formerly Gorki Park, on Agmashenebeli Avenue in Tbilisi) will witness the unveiling of the star dedicated to Kandelaki—the recipient of many honors and awards, including honorary citizenship of Tbilisi, the Order of Merit, and the title of Merited Arts Person of Georgia.
Big Band, his beloved creation, will perform in his honor at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace on the same day.
Although Gaioz Kandelaki is an engineer by profession, he has devoted his entire youth and adulthood to art and music, having led the Metekhi Drama Theater, Tbilisi State Philharmonic, and Marjanishvili Drama Theater. In his salad years, during the still-thriving Soviet Georgia, he created and presided over the Youth Club, which roared with popularity among the younger generation of Georgians in the 1960s through the 1980s.
Amazingly, he managed to organize an international jazz-rock festival right before the collapse of the Soviet Union, giving a powerful impetus to a new era of freedom and democracy. In fact, the progress of those times could never have happened without the efforts and tireless contributions of volunteers like Gaioz Kandelaki.
He created and successfully managed various recording studios, consulted for the Tumanishvili Drama Theater, and co-founded the Sachukari (Gift) theatrical festival with Keti Dolidze, the renowned Georgian director.
And finally, the crown of his amazing career is the famous Tbilisi Big Band. Kandelaki has devoted to this cherished project all the knowledge and experience he has accumulated over decades of honorable service to his country.
Gaioz Kandelaki deserves all our kudos and appreciation. His sense of faith, professionalism, and dedication to the work he has done—and continues to do—is a vivid example for generations to come.
This wonderful family man is not yet done. Gaioz Kandelaki will carry on for a long time because he does not recognize rest or relaxation. His main source of life is work and action—the more, the better!
Blog by Nugzar B. Ruhadze
