On October 2-8 2002 the First International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony was held at the Tbilisi State Conservatory. The Tbilisi State Conservatory (Rector Manana Doijashvili, Vice-Rector Rusudan Tsurtsumia) and The International Centre of Georgian Folk Music (President – Anzor Erkomaishvili) hosted the symposium. The President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze and Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia attended the opening ceremony. During this symposium the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony was established with the help of UNESCO and the financial support of the Japanese Government (the director of the Centre – Rusudan Tsurtsumia). Noriko Aikawa, Director of the Intangible Heritage Section of UNESCO, attended the symposium and addressed the participants. Full papers delivered at the conference were published in 2003 in two languages – Georgian and English (The First International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony. Proceedings.  Edited by Tsurtsumia, Rusudan and Jordania, Joseph. International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire. Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection. Tbilisi: 2003).