Some of the brightest of the world's youngest musicians assemble in town this week to take part in "Musical Olympus," a respected and internationally recognized annual festival launched by acclaimed Russian pianist Irina Nikitina in 1995.

The Musical Olympus International Festival is a 'parade of winners'. It is held annually since 1996 and presents the winners of the biggest and most prestigious international music competitions.

Pianists, vocalists, strings, percussions, and brass instruments performers as well as composers and conductors take part in the festival concerts. They represent the 'Olympus' of major international music competitions, such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, the ARD in Munich, the Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens, and many others.

The Musical Olympus provides music-lovers with priceless opportunity to hear the world's best young musicians accompanied by the renowned St. Petersburg orchestras in the city's most elegant halls. The concerts take place in the Grand and Minor Halls of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia and in the Hermitage Theatre.

The idea of the festival is widely supported by the prominent artists of the world. Among the members of the Honorary Committee of Musical Olympus are Claudio Abbado, Montserrat Caballe, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Paloma O'Shea, Yuri Temirkanov, and Placido Domingo. Some of them perform at the festival concerts (Yuri Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev).

Within six years of its activities Musical Olympus has gained serious international response and good reputation in the artistic world due to the generally recognized uniqueness of its idea as well as its high aesthetic and organizational standards. From year to year the festival is paid the growing attention of global media and a keen interest on the part of leading music agencies.

The Musical Olympus became a traditional event in the cultural life of St.-Petersburg. A lot of guests and tourists come to visit the festival from all over the world. The affairs of this kind help the city regain its reputation of a cultural center of Europe.

This year the program of the festival is extramely interesting: a daytime performance at the Yusupovsky Palace on Sunday showcases an extravagant combination of balalaika, bayan and marimba. Lovers of classical guitar music, which is a rarely heard in St. Petersburg's concert halls, shouldn't miss the festival's opening event featuring Manuel Maria Ponce's Concierto del Sur performed by Flavio Sala of Italy, first prize winner at the Michaele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition in Alessandria in 2003.

News source: www.musicalolympus.ru/
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