In a landmark event for digital innovation and cultural collaboration in Georgia, the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire hosted Georgia’s first international LoLa (Low Latency) audiovisual presentation concert. The event brought together performers from Tbilisi, Helsinki, and Trieste in real time, demonstrating how cutting-edge network technologies can revolutionise international cooperation in the arts.
LoLa, developed by the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Tartini in Trieste and GARR, Italy’s research and education network, enables ultra-lowlatency audio and video streaming. This makes it possible for artists in different parts of the world to perform together with no perceptible delay. For this event, it meant that musicians
could truly collaborate live, despite the thousands of kilometres separating them.
“This event was a breakthrough for our institution,” said Nino Bakradze, Head of the Quality Assurance Office at the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire. “It showed how technology can open up new opportunities for international cooperation and artistic exchange without borders. We are proud to have been part of something that bridges education, culture, and innovation.”
The performance was technically enabled through the collaboration between the Conservatoire and GRENA (Georgia’s Research and Educational Networking Association), with support from the EU-funded EaPConnect project. The GÉANT network provided the essential high-speed connectivity, ensuring a seamless and high-quality audiovisual experience across all participating locations.
“This event was not only an artistic success but a technical milestone,” noted Zurab Bukhnikashvili, Backbone Network Administrator at GRENA. “Ensuring real-time audio and video synchronisation across three countries is made possible only by the kind of advanced, low-latency networking infrastructure the GÉANT network supports.”
LoLa’s successful deployment in Georgia also illustrates the mission of EaPConnect, which aims to reduce the digital divide and bring Eastern Partnership countries into the European Research and Education Area. Beyond the technological achievement, the concert carried symbolic weight. It demonstrated how research and education networks can act as cultural enablers – bringing people together in new ways and giving artists and students a global stage. It also showed the potential
of LoLa and similar technologies to transform not only music education, but the broader landscape of performing arts.
As the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire continues to explore new ways of integrating technology into its academic and artistic programmes, the success of this event sets a strong precedent.
“We hope this is just the beginning,” concluded Nino Bakradze, “We envision future concerts, masterclasses, and workshops that span continents. With this technology, our students are no longer limited by geography.”
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