A night of sophisticated music has been organized at South Ural State University. As part of the 8th International Music Festival, a concert by Yuri Bashmet jointly with the Moscow Soloists chamber orchestra was held at our university with the support from the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region. The musicians presented a program of compositions by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and won the hearts of the audience.
Yuri Bashmet is the world's best viola player, who has made viola a full-fledged solo musical instrument for the first time in the history of music. He is a People's Artist of the USSR and Russian Federation, member of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for Culture, holder of State Prizes of the USSR and Russian Federation and of the 2008 Grammy Award, Professor of the Moscow Conservatory, artistic director and conductor of the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra and the Moscow Soloists chamber orchestra.
This festival by the legendary maestro has become a good tradition for the South Ural region. It was first held in the Chelyabinsk Region in 2018. Year after year, the festival is changing, its repertoire is being updated and new musicians are participating in it. For instance, this year's festival is dedicated to the 185th Birthday Anniversary of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
"It is quite a tricky task to perform music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. You need not only professional education and musicianship for that, but you also must know how to convey your feelings. This is probably the most difficult thing. Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky is a conversation between the souls of a performer, a listener, and of course, the author. I think that it's just wonderful that SUSU organizes concerts like this one. Thank you very much," noted Yuri Bashmet.
The People's Artist was greeted on stage of South Ural State University by the Rector Alexander Wagner:
"Thank you for this wonderful gift: for our emotions and tonight's atmosphere. I would like to first of all sincerely thank the Government of the Chelyabinsk Region and personally the Governor Alexey Texler for this unique opportunity. Special thanks go to the managers of the Chelyabinsk Philharmonic. On behalf of our whole university, I would like to express our deep respect and heartfelt gratitude for the brilliant performance of this music by the outstanding composer."
The Chelyabinsk State Philharmonic and South Ural State University have been cooperating for many years now. Namely our fruitful interaction has made it possible to organize this concert at our university as part of the Student Philharmonia project.
For the SUSU students and staff members, as well as for all residents of our city, it is a unique opportunity to enjoy the art of live performance by the musicians, whose mastery is recognized all around the world: from European and Asian countries to the North and Latin America.
"Performing with the maestro and such orchestra is a big responsibility, but also a great joy. And we feel the support. It's wonderful that we have a chance to share the stage with such an incredible ensemble headed by Yuri Bashmet and enjoy the music together. On stage, we create, build a story for each member of the audience. The conductor is always in perfect synchrony with the orchestra: we understand each other with just a hint of a gesture or a nod, or a wave of the hand. When we perform together, we listen to each other in order to create a world of our own and present it to the audience," shared soloist Valeriia Abramova.
The festival will be held till October 19th and will close with a Van Gogh. Letters to his Brother concert-and-theatrical production starring Yevgeny Mironov.
You can see photos from the concert in our VKontakte group.