Kakhidze Jansugh

Kakhidze Jansugh (May 26, 1935, village of Obcha, currently Baghdati Municipality – March 7, 2002, Tbilisi) a conductor, choirmaster, singer, and composer. He was a People's Artist of Georgia (1978) and the USSR (1985), and a laureate of the Shota Rustaveli State Prize (1977) and the Z. Paliashvili Prize (2003, posthumously). In 1958, he graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire with a degree in choral conducting under the direction of O. Dimitriadi. While still a student, he led the State Choral Kapella of Georgia, serving as its artistic director and chief conductor from 1955 to 1962. In 1957, he formed the "Shvidkatsa" folk song ensemble, which became a laureate of the 6th International Festival of Youth and Students (Moscow, 1957, gold medal).

From 1962, Kakhidze was a conductor at the Tbilisi State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, serving as its chief conductor in 1965–68 and 1982–2002. From 1971 to 1973, he worked as a conductor at the opera house in Łódź, Poland, where in 1972 he staged Z. Paliashvili's opera Abesalom and Eteri. From 1973 to 1993, he was the artistic director and chief conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Georgia. In 1993, through his initiative, the Tbilisi Musical-Cultural Center (which was subsequently named after Kakhidze) was founded, along with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra (of which he remained chief conductor until the end of his life) as well as the "Autumn Tbilisi" International Music Festival. Kakhidze conducted new Georgian operas staged in Tbilisi, including G. Kancheli's And Music There Is, and B. Kvernadze's It Was in the Eighth Year, Daughter of the Colchians, and Medea. Under his baton, a number of the finest examples of world classical and Georgian symphonic music were performed—I. Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, G. Mahler's 3rd and 5th symphonies, D. Shostakovich's 4th symphony, F. Joseph Haydn's 86th symphony, R. Shchedrin's Mischievous Chastushkas, G. Kancheli's seven symphonies and other works.

Kakhidze was also the author of popular songs for motion pictures, such as The Eccentrics (Sherekilebi) [co-authored with G. Kancheli], The First Swallow (Pirveli Mertskhali), and Data Tutashkhia [co-authored with B. Kvernadze], of which he himself was an outstanding vocal performer. Kakhidze's career left a momentous mark on the Georgian performing arts.

He was awarded the Order of Honor (1996) and was an honorary citizen of the city of Łódź, Poland. He is buried in the Didube Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures in Tbilisi.

Jansugh Kakhidze, excerpt from the program Meetings on Pikris Gora [Meetings on the Hill of Thought], recorded in 2002:

G. Toradze