The music criticism competition will be held for the first time at the Sollertinsky Festival in Vitebsk

The music criticism competition received about 20 applications from Vitebsk, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Minsk, Grodno, Mogilev, and Lida. The works of young people are already being studied by an international jury, which includes art and music critics from the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, the Belarusian State Academy of Music, the I.I. Sollertinsky Vitebsk State Musical College, and others. "We are holding the music criticism competition in honor of the 120th anniversary of I.I. Sollertinsky, the greatest musicologist and art critic of his time. The young musicologists were not intimidated by the brilliant jury and submitted their applications," noted Tatyana Savitskaya. "Currently, the participants are from Belarus, but next year we hope to take this new competition to an international level."

The winner of the music criticism competition will perform alongside distinguished and authoritative art critics during the XXI Scientific Readings at the festival, where the award ceremony will take place. As noted by the organizers, the competition will help identify talented youth and serve as an additional incentive for them.

"The I.I. Sollertinsky International Music Festival is always a meeting with the best contemporary musicians, both familiar and new to the Vitebsk audience. For example, this year Dzhambolat Dulaev, a baritone from Russia and winner of the VI Muslim Magomaev International Vocal Competition, is coming to Vitebsk. I am sure that everyone without exception will be interested in listening to this performer. The festival will be opened by violinist Ilya Kozlov, pianist Pavel Tovpich, and cellist Natalia Neskoromnaya. They have prepared a very interesting program for the Vitebsk public: they will perform music by great composers such as Paganini, Mozart, Shostakovich, and Haydn," said the director of the regional philharmonic.

She noted that Vitebsk eagerly awaits the arrival of the art critic from St. Petersburg, a great friend of the festival, Dmitry Ivanovich Sollertinsky, the son of the famous musicologist Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky, who was born and studied in Vitebsk.

One of the grand evenings will be the festival's closing concert, featuring the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Belarus conducted by Maestro Alexander Anisimov. "They will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's 'Piano Concerto No. 2', with soloist Alexander Muzykantov. And in the second part, they will perform P.I. Tchaikovsky's Shakespearean overture-fantasia 'Romeo and Juliet', as well as the symphonic fantasy after Dante 'Francesca da Rimini'."

Traditional events for the festival will include a concert by teachers and students of the Vitebsk State Musical College named after I.I. Sollertinsky, as well as an exhibition of posters by students from the design department of the Vitebsk State Technological University.

The XXXI International Music Festival named after I.I. Sollertinsky will be held in Vitebsk from December 2 to 16.

"BELTA"