Musical festival is opened in the framework of the ‘Orthodox Russia’ exhibition

A musical festival in the framework of the 4^th Church Exhibition ‘Orthodox Russia’ was opened in the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatoire on 28 May 2006. The deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Rev. Vsevolod Chaplin spoke at the opening and said the concert programme includes classical pieces and those of contemporary composers working in the genre of religious and classical music, as well as folk and author’s songs, and youth pieces. Rev. Chaplin noted that ‘tradition is not a museum property. It brings the past, the present and the future together; it is passed from parents to their children, from grandparents to their grandchildren, and from teachers to pupils being enriched by new forms of creative work.’

The Russian Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications, the Moscow government and the State Duma Committee for Public Associations and Religious Organizations support the festival.

The programme of the first concert included works by Alexander Kastalsky, Pavel Chesnokov and our contemporaries, such as Archbishop Ionafan (Yeletskikh) of Cherson and Tavria, Bishop Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Vienna and Austria, Archpriest Nikolai Vedernikov and Anton Viskov. Performing in the concert were the choir of the Mariinsky Theater conducted by Andrei Petrenko, the choir of the State Tretiakov Gallery conducted by Alexei Puzakov, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Daniil Shtoda and Yuri Laptev, an honoured artist of Russia and counselor of the Russian President.

Festival concerts will be held in the Vrubel Hall of the State Tretiakov Gallery, ‘Gostiny Dvor’, Moscow Palace of Youth and in Moscow International House of Music.

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