Kazan will host the VIII International Festival of Contemporary Music named after Sofia Gubaidullina "CONCORDIA"

From October 20 to November 3, the Concordia International Festival of Contemporary Music named after Sofia Gubaidulina will be held for the eighth time in Kazan.

The festival is named after the world-famous composer founded by chief conductor and artistic director of the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan, People’s Artist of Russia Alexander Sladkovsky and has the status of a major international forum of contemporary music. This year, guests of the festival at the invitation of maestro Alexander Sladkovsky will be outstanding Russian composers - Sergei Slonimsky and Alexei Rybnikov, as well as the famous Austrian violinist Rainer Honek, famous Petersburg viola player Alexei Lyudevig and conductor of Mariinsky tetra Gavriel Heine.

Within the framework of the four festival days, the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan under the baton of Alexander Sladkovsky will present over ten premier works by modern composers to the Kazan public. The guest of honor at the opening concert will be the outstanding composer of our time, State Prize winner, People's Artist of Russia, Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after Rimsky-Korsakov Sergey Slonimsky. For the first time, he will arrive in Kazan for the premiere performance in the capital of Tatarstan of his two works: Symphony No. 33 and the symphonic poem "Rise and Triumph".

On the first day of the festival, the audience will also hear “The Fairy Tale” by Sofia Gubaidulina and “Sonata for Viola, Strings and Celesta” by Dmitry Shostakovich. The soloist will be a famous violist from St. Petersburg, the winner of international competitions - Alexei Lyudevig. Conductor - Alexander Sladkovsky.

The second festival day, October 24, will be dedicated to the work by the outstanding Soviet and Russian composer, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Union of Composers of the Russian Federation Alexei Rybnikov. The creator of the music to the famous rock operas “Juno and Avos”, as well as to numerous films, will honor the festival evening with his presence. The State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan and the maestro Alexander Sladkovsky will perform for the first time in Kazan the famous works by the composer: the symphonic paintings "Skomoroh", "Night Song" and "Music of Lycia", as well as Symphony No. 6.

The third day of the festival, October 31, will be marked by a loud musical event. Within the framework of the Concordia festival in Kazan, the world premiere will take place: the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan and Alexander Sladkovsky will play for the first time the composition “Equilibrio” by Anna Pospelova - finalists of the All-Russian Essay Competition of Young Composers for the Symphony Orchestra “Another Space”. The debut performance will be held in the framework of the All-Russian Virtual Concert Hall project, which is held jointly with the Moscow State Philharmonic Society.

Mariinsky conductor Tetra Gavriel Heine was invited to conduct the evening of the festival with  RT State Symphony Orchestra  along with Alexander Sladkovsky. The soloists will be Ivan and Mikhail Pochekin, Anastasia Kobekina. The program includes the premiere performance of the work “Factory. Music of Machines” by A. Mosolov, “Concerto for violin and viola with orchestra” by K. Penderetsky, and also “Concerto for cello and orchestra” by V. Lutoslavsky.

On the final day of the festival, on November 3, the guest of Alexander Sladkovsky and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan will be the famous Austrian violinist and conductor, concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Rainer Honeck. The soloist and orchestra for the first time in Kazan will perform the "Garden Symphony" by the Moscow composer Alexander Tchaikovsky, dedicated to the conductor of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Maris Janson (her premiere took place in 2014 in Munich in the program "Russian Nights"). During the visit, the guest soloist will hold master classes for musicians of the Tatarstan Symphony Orchestra. The premiere performance of the Concerto for violin and orchestra and the music of the ballet «Petrushka» by Igor Stravinsky will complete the festival program.

"I hope that this festival will always be in Kazan. And it is very correct that we decided to hold it in due time. In fact, this is the festival of the music that was played in the world, for example, already in the 50s. For seven years existence of the festival on it for the first time in Kazan, 54 works were performed, "- said Alexander Sladkovsky in an interview.

Sofia Gubaidulina, David Geringas, Yuri Bashmet, Gia Kancheli, Andrei Eshpai, Ksenia Bashmet, Sergey Nakaryakov, Igor Fedorov, Lukas Geniušas, Rustem Kudoyarov, Andres Mustonen, Christopher Mulds took part in the first festivals.