With IDBank’s Support, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi Awards Established at Gyumri Music School No. 6

Impacture 2026 became not only a platform for discussions on charity, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and impact investing, but also the launchpad for a meaningful and symbolic initiative.

During the conference, a new annual award program for students of Gyumri Music School No. 6 was announced. The awards will bear the names of world-renowned musicians Ian Gillan, lead vocalist of Deep Purple, and Tony Iommi, guitarist and founding member of Black Sabbath.

The initiative aims to recognize the school’s best vocalists and qanun players each year. Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi warmly welcomed the idea, while IDBank undertook the funding of the awards.

Based on video recordings submitted by the school featuring several vocal and qanun performances, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi personally selected the first award recipients: sixth-grade student Narek Zakaryan in the vocal category and fourth-grade student Monika Nersisyan in the qanun category.

Each award carries a prize of AMD 150,000 in the form of idcoins.

According to Tatevik Vardevanyan, Head of Communications and CSR Programs Department at IDBank and Idram, Rock Aid Armenia is a unique initiative with long-term impact that has not only revived an educational institution but has also created new opportunities for talented children.

“At IDBank, we are guided by the same principle of creating long-term impact, believing that even a small contribution can bring about meaningful change. For the past six years, we have been turning this idea into reality through the ‘The Power of One Dram’ initiative,” said Tatevik Vardevanyan.

The new award program is closely connected to the history of Rock Aid Armenia, which emerged in the aftermath of the 1988 Spitak earthquake with the participation of world-famous rock musicians. In 2009, as a result of the Armenia Grateful 2 Rock project initiated by Mediamax, a new building for Gyumri Music School No. 6 was constructed with the direct involvement of Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi.

In 2019, the 30th anniversary of the Rock Aid Armenia initiative was marked in Armenia with IDBank as the main partner. During that visit, Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi also visited Gyumri Music School No. 6.

The companies are supervised by the CBA.