A fine soloist is sadly widowed in mid-concert
mainFrom the international violinist, Liana Isakadze:
Dear friends. We regret to inform you that Prof. Thamaz Chachava, spouse of Liana Isakadze has passed away yesterday, during a concert of Night Serenades Festival, held in Batumi.
Funeral will be held on Thursday, August 31, in Tbilisi.
Liana Isakadze, a Georgian student of David Oistrakh, moved to France after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Her husband appears to have died during a concert at a festival she directs in Tbilisi.
Batumi is a seaside town on the Black sea. Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia and some miles away.
Night Serenades is held in Batumi and Tbilisi. Thomaz Chachava passed collapsed right after we finished playing Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence (arranged for string orchestra by Liana Isakadze). We were going into intermission when it happened. We tried giving him CPR until the ambulance and paramedics arrived, but to no avail. Thomaz was a wonderful man. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him.
Thamaz and Liana have been friends for 40 years. Liana came to Washington to play at the Russian Embassy a few years ago, and we enjoyed hearing her play and had some time to talk with her; Thamaz spoke to us on the phone. By chance, we saw a note from Liana on Facebook last night.
Hi Liana,
I hope you are well. We haven’t heard from you and now it is June 5, 2019. I think of you often and wonder where you are playing your violin.