Fourth Bolshoi Classical Music Festival opens in Mećavnik, Serbia, 15 July 2016
The fourth Bolshoi Festival of Russian Music will take place this year on July 15 — 17 2016 in the ethnic village of Mećavnik (Mokra Gora National Park), supported by Gazprom Neft as general sponsor.
Over the course of three days the main stage in the Festival village of Drvengrad will see 65 young competitors from music schools and academies throughout Serbia, Respublika Srpska and Russia ’compete in performing classical and modern pieces by Russian and Serbian composers and the winners — in two age groups, for 13—17- and 18—25-year-olds — awarded the Bronze, Silver or Gold Matryoshka.
Russian contestants will be representing seven cities including Cape Kamenny, Muravlenko, Noyabrsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Tomsk and Khanty-Mansiysk. The international jury for the fourth Festival will be headed by the famous pianist and honoured Russian artist Yury Rozum, a soloist with the Moscow State Philharmonic, and will also include Ljiljana Nestorovska, Dean at the Belgrade Faculty of Music, and Zoran Komadina, Professor of Music Academy of East Sarajevo.
The Festival provides a platform for dialogue between talented young people from Serbia, the Respublika Srpska and Russia, allowing them to share experience and develop musical and cultural ties.
The Festival has this year been given a new brand identity, highlighting the common cultural values of two Slavonic nations — Russia and Serbia. The festival logo is made up of several symbols, central to which is a matryoshka in the colours of the Russian and Serbian national flags.
Among the main features of this year’s event will be a performance by international Tchaikovsky competition winning cellist Narek Akhnazaryan, as well as performances by internationally famous Serbian musicians Zoran Todorović and violinist Nemanja Radulović.
The concert programme will open with a performance from one of the best lyric tenors in the world — Zoran Todorović — performing a range of classical operatic arias.
The evening programme on the second day of the Festival day will feature a solo concert by pianist Yuri Rozum and a performance by Narek Akhnazaryan, accompanied by the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra conducted by Srboljub Dinić, Director of the Mexico City Opera.
The Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, which takes its name from the eponymous music festival, was established in 2015 — the idea arising from a desire to give young artists and students the chance to make their first professional appearances supported by famous classical musicians.
The third day of the festival will see famous violinist Nemanja Radulović performing pieces by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johann Sebastian Bach and Dmitry Shostakovich, accompanied by the Double Sens ensemble.
The Bolshoi Quintet will sound the final note of the festival, performing the musical score from the film Aelita: Queen of Mars by Yakov Protazanov.
Information partners for the fourth Bolshoi Festival include the Russia 24 and Russia Today TV channels, as well as Snob magazine and the Lenta.ru Internet portal, together with Serbian newspaper Politica.
As part of the festival organisers have also arranged master classes, with Narek Akhnazaryan (for the cello), Yuri Rozum (for the piano), Nemanja Radulović (for the violin), as well as voice classes with Zoran Todorović.
Alexander Dybal, Deputy CEO for Corporate Communications, Gazprom Neft, commented: “Gazprom Neft is the most important international investor in Serbia, and the issue for us concerns not just commercial and industrial projects. Supporting the Bolshoi Festival represents an investment in developing the cultural and social ties between our two countries, two Slavic peoples, and the further strengthening of the historic connection between Russia and Serbia. Participating in the Festival gives us the chance to offer young performers the opportunity to share experience, engage with senior classical musicians, and to develop and perfect their musical skills.”
