Today, August 28, Red Square hosted another evening show of the Eleventh Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival. And we are continuing telling you about performances of the Festival’s participants.
At this year’ Festival the Mexican music culture is represented by the unique artistic group Banda Monumental de Mexico featuring the Tenochtitlan Dancing Company, Oro de Mexico Mariachi Ensemble and Delphines Wind Band, the biggest and best-known band of the kind in Mexico. The age of the group participants is between 11 and 18 years of age.
Banda Monumental de Mexico is one of the most numerous participants of this year’s Spasskaya Tower Festival. About 130 Mexican artists steps onto the cobblestone of Red Square every evening. The first sounds of Mexican national music full of vibrancy and vigor start filling the air encouraging everyone to dance as no Mexican party can be imagined without dances. Hence, members of the Tenochtitlan Dancing Company dressed in pre-Hispanic garments with long colorful feathers appear on Red Square. They are followed by the Mariachi wearing red national costumes and white sombreros. The word Mariachistands not only for the ensemble of musicians but for the music genre as well. Mariachi are holding in their hands violins, a guitar and a guitarron (the big guitar), traditional instruments for this music genre. The wind band all dressed in white march behind them. And the dances continue. Now its turn of the Tenochtitlan girls wearing dresses with red and green wings to present their skills to the audience. Meanwhile music is changing throughout the performance mixing traditional and popular melodies. In the finale there is no one standing still. An awfully positive and breathtaking show!
The grand finale of the main show features the performance of the combined banduniting all the ensembles participating in the Festival. Conducted by Colonel Timofey Mayakin, Head of the Military Music Band Service of the Russian Armed Forces – Chief Military Conductor and Music Director of the Spasskaya Tower Festival musicians performed the Officers’ Ball potpourri of well-known Russian and foreign composers, including Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Dunaevsky, Sviridov, Frenkel, Nikitin, Strauss and others. The final accord adjourning the show was Tchaikovsky Overture “1812”.
As a matter of tradition the main show of the Spasskaya Tower Festival finished with grandiose fireworks.
Among this evening’s guests of honor there were Group Captain Lasat Channa Dissanayake, Defence Attache of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Russia, an old friend of the Festival the master of the tea ceremony Sidzue San, representative of the Japanese youth team, Colonel Igor Khanchich, Deputy Commander of the Presidential Regiment of the Federal Guard Service of the Russian Federation.
