Today Moscow’s Red Square hosted the grand opening of the Twelfth Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival.
From August 23 to September 1, thirty best artistic ensembles from twelve countries will perform on the cobblestones of Red Square, in the very heart of Russia. This year Moscow is heartily welcoming participants from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Italy, Kazakhstan, China< DPR of Korea, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russia, Turkey, Japan and two international groups – the International Celtic Massed Pipes and Drums and the International Celtic Dance Team.
In his welcoming word Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, welcomed all the participants, organizers and audiences of the Spasskaya Tower Festival, while Sergey Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, officially gave start to the Festival from the stands. “Good evening, dear friends. I’d like to congratulate you all on the opening of this wonderful celebration of music. Thank you, all the participants of the Festival, that you do not limit yourself only with the main venue of the Festival, and willingly perform in the city parks, gardens, railway stations and VDNH to the joy of Muscovites and guests of the capital. Every year the Festival prepares new and exciting surprises for its fans, and we all have a chance to witness them”, addressed the audiences Mr. Sobyanin.
Solo with a Band is the leading theme of this year’s production. Throughout the whole Festival vocalists and solo instrumentalists performing all the possible music genres from traditional and military compositions to classical and rock pieces will be masterly fronting their bands.
The first surprise awaits all the guests right in the prologue of the show. They will hear Chuck Berry’s world-famous hit Roll Over Beethovenperformed by the President’s Band of the Moscow Kremlin Commandant’s Service of the Federal Guard Service of Russia.
“Performing together with a rock band is a completely new and very exciting experiment for us”, shared his impressions Colonel Evgeniy Nikitin, Conductor of the President’s Band and Honored Artist of Russia. “Despite being military men, we are foremost musicians. Thus, we are very enthusiastic about trying ourselves in new artistic projects and finally show the results of our work to the audiences”, he added.
But it wasn’t the only surprise of the night. Igor Butman, one of the world’s best saxophonists and People’s Artist of Russia, stepped on the cobblestones of Red Square as the show was reaching its end. Joined by the Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defense under the lead of Colonel Sergey Durygin, Honored Artist of Russia, he performed a famous jazz piece Lili Was Here.
And to finish strong, all the participants of this year’s Solo with a Band production united into the Spasskaya Tower Combined Band performed a medley of Russian popular songs with guests on the stands now being the soloists.
The splendid fireworks high above Saint Basil’s Cathedral closed off the opening night on Red Square.
