Metropolitan Hilarion takes part in the opening of 5th Christmas Festival of Religious Music in Moscow

On 9 January 2015, the 5^th Christmas Festival of Religious Music opened at the International House of Music in Moscow. Mr. Vladimir Spivakov, President of the Moscow International House of Music, and Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, act as artistic directors of the Festival.

The Christmas Festival already has its own history and its own audience, Metropolitan Hilarion noted, greeting all those present in the concert hall. “For the fifth time we open this Festival in order to give people an opportunity to listen to religious music,” the DECR chairman said. He wished all those present that the joy of celebrating Christmas and meeting Our Lord Jesus Christ coming into the world remain in their hearts during the whole year.

Eight concerts will take place within the framework of the 5^th Christmas Festival on 9-23 January 2015. The programme includes, in particular, the Renaissance music, old chants of the Russian monasteries, and performances by boys’ choirs – the Boni Pueri from Prague and the Libera from Great Britain.