Orchestra to strive for diversity

Avetisyan doesn’t believe the poor economy will keep them from getting sponsors for more shows. He has been conducting concerts with freelance musicians for more than seven years at the Alex Theatre and has been successful getting sponsors to pay for expenses, he said. One of the major sponsors has been the Armenian Society of Los Angeles, he added.

“The encouraging thing is we are doing concerts and are able to fund a few concerts a year,” he said. “There are sponsors. They pay for this.”

His hope is to provide at least six concerts a year.

“The last seven years we have been doing it with a freelance orchestra, so we can finance a season of regular concerts,” he said.

The first order of business is to prove to prospective sponsors what the musicians can do, he added.

“I want to show the product and then go to businesses to ask for funding,” he said. “Once we show them, it will be easier to work with them in the future.”

Biryukov has secured space in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Glendale. Pastor Charles Updike asked Biryukov to start a concert series and is charging little for the space, Biryukov said, and the Glendale Philharmonic will give the church a portion of proceeds from the concert.

“The acoustics are amazing, and it can seat close to 1,000 people,” Biryukov said.

A foundation has been set up that will run the Glendale Philharmonic, Positive Motions Foundation, and Biryukov is working with four other volunteers from Glendale to start the Positive Motions series, he said. He hopes to create a board of directors and a women’s committee to help raise funds, he said.

There are 16 professional musicians performing in the Jan. 9 concert, Biryukov said. They called him to play with the orchestra, he said.

“We have to succeed when we have that many professionals this enthusiastic,” he said.