Tbilisi State Conservatoire (, Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria) is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi. History The Tbilisi Conservatoire was founded on 1 May 1917. It was formally recognised by the Russian Musical Society as a conservatoire later that year. A rival conservatoire was also founded in 1921 by D. Arakishvili, and it was not until 1924 that the situation was resolved by the Soviet regime in favour of the original foundation. Since 1947 it has borne the name of Georgian singer Ivane Sarajishvili. Among the first teachers in Conservatoire were students of leading musicians such as Franz Liszt, Henryk Wieniawski, Antoine Marmontel, Tchaikovsky, and Ignaz Moscheles, as well as Joseph and Rosina Lhévinne – later founder-teachers at the Juilliard School of Music; Georgian musicians, former alumni of the Moscow Conservatory and St. Petersburg Conservatory – including Dimitri Arakishvili and Zachary Paliashvili (composers, and founders of modern Georgian music); Wanda Shiukashvili, A.Tulashvili and A.Virsaladze (pianists); L.Iashvili and L.Shiukashvili (violinists); D.Andghuladze and A.Inashvili (singers); Greek conductor Odysseas Dimitriadis and others. At different times the Tbilisi State Conservatoire was headed by prominent Georgian and Russian musicians, among them Nikolai Nikolaev (1917-1918), Nikolai Tcherepnin (1919-1922), Tamara Vakhvakhishvili (1921-1923), Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1924-1925), Zakaria Paliashvili (1918-1919;1922-1923;1930-1931), Dimitri Arakishvili (1926-1929) Otar Taktakishvili (1962-1964), Sulkhan Tsintsadze (1965-1984), Nodar Gabunia (1984-2000), Manana Doidjashvili (2000-2012) and Reso Kiknadze (2012-2019). The current rector is Nana Sharikadze. Among the notable graduates of the Conservatoire are: composers Gia Kancheli, S. Nasidze and Dagmara Slianova-Mizandari; conductor Jansug Kakhidze; ethnomusicologist and evolutionary musicologist Joseph Jordania; musicians Elisso Virsaladze, Dimitri Bashkirov, Lev Vlassenko, Tamar Gabarashvili, Regina Gurgenyan, Alexander Toradze, Marine Iashvili, Alexander Korsantia, Giorgi Latso, Zurab Andjaparidze, Iano Alibegashvili (Tamari), Lado Ataneli, Tamar Atschba and others. Building The original building was designed by Aleksander Szymkiewicz and built in 1901-05. Unlike most buildings of the same style in the given period, the conservatoire's column decorated main portal is not centrally located. Rather, along with the main facade it is built near the left corner of the building in order for it to face the main entrance from the Rustaveli Avenue. The style of the building is eclectic in nature. While original two-story building was built with elements of renaissance and baroque, the exterior of the present four-story building is neoclassical and somewhat less ornate. The exterior displays the statue of Anton Rubinstein, a Russian pianist and composer who in 1891 donated an entire