The fourth run of the Military Bands in the City Parks came to its end. Carried out by the Directorate of the Spasskaya Tower Festival with the support of the Russian Ministry of Defense and Moscow’s Department of Culture the project presented the last concert of the season this Saturday, August 17, in Moscow’s Alexander Garden.
The Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defense staged their performance near the Italian Grotto, right beneath the Kremlin walls. Sounds of waltzes and popular songs filled the air of the Alexander Garden. Right in the middle of the concert Konstantin Petrovich, Conductor of the Band, paused and announced that Maria, one of the ensemble’s musicians, was celebrating her birthday that day. He congratulated her and presented flowers, while the audience supported Maria with thundering applause.
Meanwhile, the Military Band of the 154 Preobrazhenskiy Regiment was performing on Manezhnaya Square near the Marshal Zhukov Monument.
As musicians stopped performing, the stage was passed on to the organizers of the Military Bands in the City Parks. Thus, Major General Timofey Mayakin, Head of the Military Band Music Service of the Russian Armed Forces — Chief Military Conductor, Music Director and member of the Artistic Council of the Spasskaya Tower Festival, welcomed and thanked the audience on behalf of the whole military musicians’ community. “Today is a very special day. Along the last three months military bands performed onstage of the best
In his turn, Mr. Sergey Smirnov, Head of the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival Directorate, said that another Military Bands in the City Parks run came to its end and it was high time for the Spasskaya Tower Festival to take the floor. “The Festival starts next week and we are inviting everybody to come and once again feel the vibes of a military band concert. Besides, if you miss the summer, you will definitely experience it at our Festival. It will be hot, interesting and lot of fun”, Mr. Smirnov added.
Representing the Government of Moscow, Mr. Alexander Kibovskiy, Head of the city Department of Culture, pointed out that during the 2019 run Moscow’s parks and gardens welcomed sixteen military bands’ concerts. “Unlike last year, this time the weather has not been very nice to us. Thus, the performances have been even more valuable as they always managed to score full house. As the audiences knew for sure that no weather conditions were bad enough for a military band to cancel their performance”, stressed Mr. Kibovskiy thanking all military musicians for their exceptional skills and strong character.
But the concert was not over yet and military musicians got back to their instruments. The Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Military Band of the 154 Preobrazhenskiy Regiment were joined by the Central Band of the Navy named after Nikolai
All in all, the concert lasted for two hours. But no one was even thinking of going away. At the end, saying goodbye to the bands, the audience awarded them with thundering applause and numerous bravo exclamations. And the next meeting is already marked: Moscow, Red Square, Spasskaya Tower Festival.
Let us remind you, that the 2019 season of the Military Bands in the City Parks kicked off on May 18 right here, in the Alexander Garden. Over three months it saw performances by the sixteen best military wind bands of the Moscow garrison. They staged sixteen public concerts in fourteen parks and gardens of Moscow including Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill, Sokolniki Park, Muzeon, Red Presnya Park, Fili,
But don’t be sorry as in a few days, on August 23, Moscow’s Red Square will welcome the Twelfth Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival that will last up to September 1. The organizers have already revealed that the Festival’s opening night will see the performance of Igor Butman,