On April 12, 2014 Smavel Balasanyan received the jury members and the guests of the 6th ՞Renaissance՞ contest-festival to be held in Gyumri. During his opening speech Gyumri mayor greeted the guests who arrived in Gyumri from 33 countries and noted the importance of holding the festival in the second city which will activate the cultural life of the city. Afterwards, the mayor briefly introduced the history of the city, in particular its cultural rich heritage and the events that took place during the framework of ՞Gyumri CIS cultural capital 2013՞ project. The director of Gyumri branch of Yerevan State Conservatory Karine Avdalyan thanked Samvel Balasanyan for supporting the festival and talked about the increasing geography of the festival and the future projects. The rector of St. Petersburg conservatory Mikhail Gantvarg, the rector of Kazan conservatory Abdulin Rubin, singer Raisa Mkrtchyan and others also talked about the festival. At the end of the meeting Samvel Balasanyan handed books about Gyumri and wished them a successful completion of the ՞Renaissance՞ festival and the opening ceremony.