On June 6, France’s Minister of Culture and Communication Fleur Pellerin granted the Order of Arts and Literature of France to artistic director and principal conductor of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia Serkey Smpadian.
The award is granted to artists who are over the age of 30 and have made great achievements in the arts and literature. The age of a candidate is disregarded, if the artist has special merits, and 27-year-old Serkey Smpadian is one of those special candidates.