• Start date:  09.06.2024
• End date:  09.06.2024
• RU:  Концерт хора мальчиков Хорового училища им. Глинки
• DE:  Konzert des Knabenchors der Glinka-Chorschule
• Status: Completed

On June 8, as part of the cultural program of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Boys' Choir of the Glinka Choir School performed in the White Hall of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. The choir was conducted by its artistic director and conductor, Vladimir Begletsov, who is an honored artist of Russia.

The concert was organised by the Russian-Austrian Public Forum "Sochi Dialogue" with the support of the Austrian company MED-EL. Maria Matveeva, Director of the Sochi Dialogue Forum expressed her gratitude to Polytechnic University Rector Andrey Rudskoy for the long-standing co-operation and congratulated the university on its 125th anniversary. In her speech, she stressed that performer Aigerim Tutova (Kazakhstan) is a true example of the openness that guides the Sochi Dialogue in its activities. Aigerim has bilateral sensorineural hearing loss of the 4th degree. She was operated on by Professor V. E. Kuzovkov, a surgeon at the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Ear, Throat, Nose and Speech, and now she can hear thanks to cochlear implants from one of the Sochi Dialogue's regular partners- Austrian company MED-EL. Such openness to co-operation allows the jazz singer, deaf since birth, to develop professionally today.

Then Natalia Konyushenko, partner of social programmes of MED-EL in Russia, took the floor. She emphasised the importance of the social projects that had been implemented in tandem with the forum and congratulated the doctors in the hall on the approaching Medical Worker's Day.

The artists and the audience were also welcomed by Vitaly Sergeyev, First Vice-Rector of Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University. In his speech, he noted the special role of art, culture, science, and education in the current situation:

"This is the platform that unites humanity, something that has no borders, something that opens the understanding of each other. And in the current situation in the global community, there are initiatives that are being preserved, which, I am sure, will be bridges in the future to create such a society of unity and understanding of each other as the Sochi Dialogue. That is why I am very grateful to my partners here and in Austria for the work being done. I am confident that together, through our joint efforts, we will build our future in such a way that our children will live in peace, in a peaceful world, and you and I, of course, will also be in harmony of understanding.

The concert was opened by Aigerim Tutova (Kazakhstan), a finalist of many international music festivals and competitions. She sings in Russian, Kazakh and English, and has performed in many countries. Then, young students of the Choir School performed masterpieces by Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert.

The Boys' Choir of the Glinka Choir School is a regular participant in special international cultural programmes held under the auspices of the United Nations, UNESCO and governments of various states. The ensemble tours extensively, with performances at the Berlin Philharmonic, the Albert Hall in London and the UN headquarters in New York. The choir members participated in the cultural programmes of international economic forums, the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014. Its pupils are involved in many opera productions at the Mariinsky, Mikhailovsky and Bolshoi Theatres. This year the Boys' Choir celebrates 545 years since its foundation: young singers first began performing in 1479 under the choir of the Tsar's court singers.