The participants of the 13th Moscow International Festival of Slavic Music, which took place in Moscow at the Balakirev Children's Art School under the support of the Department of Culture of Moscow, returned to Slovakia with a victory.
The festival was held within the framework of the state program of the celebration of the "Days of Slavic Literature and Culture" and for many years traditionally was held in May on the eve of this Orthodox holiday.
About 1,000 people from 10 countries - Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Taiwan and Japan participated in the festival this year. The festival included an extensive contest program. Young participants under the age of 25 competed in 13 nominations - soloists and vocal groups, choirs and folklore ensembles, performers of folk and pop songs, pianists and composers, string orchestras and instrumental ensembles, competitions of folk and electronic musical instruments, choreographic competition and others.
This is a major cultural and educational project, whose goal is to promote the preservation of traditions and the dissemination of the creative heritage of outstanding artists of the Slavic countries.
Thanks to the cooperation of the Russian Center in Bratislava and the Balakirev Children's Art School in Moscow, it became possible for Slovak singers and musicians to participate. This year the team from Slovakia took part in the festival for the first time.
The Russian center of the European Fund of Slavic Literature and Culture, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Slovakia, actively participated in the selection of Slovak participants and interacted with the festival organizing committee.
On the 21st of May 2017, the jury summed up the results of the festival and announced the winners. To great joy, the Slovak participants performed very well.
Grand prix of the festival in the choral competition obtained the Slovak youth choir from the city of Zhilina "Young Voices" (Žilinský zbor). This well-known collective in Slovakia has been conducting its history since 1954, and always in its performances holds a high performing standard. At the competition they performed works of Slovak composers. It is no coincidence that their performance was marked by enthusiastic reviews, as the equally strong participant the Youth Choir of the School named after Gnesin from Moscow lost to them.
The special prize of the jury was awarded to the amazing conductor of the Zhilinsky Choir "Young Voices" Stefan Sedlicki (Doc. Mgr.art., Štefan Sedlický, dirigent a pedagóg Konzervatória v Žiline). With his professional skills and obsession, he made an unforgettable impression on everyone.
A special prize in the piano competition "For the performance of D. Shostakovich's work" was given to Ziskova Michaela, student of the Zilina Conservatory (Konzervatórium Žilina).
After the competition, Slovak participants had a walk around Moscow and of course visited the Moscow Conservatory.