The organ of St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk will be modernized for the first time
The modernization of the organ in the concert hall of the Saint Sophia Cathedral of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve will begin in January 2013, the director of the museum-reserve Tamara Dzhumantaeva told a BELTA correspondent.
Since the installation of the instrument in the Saint Sophia Cathedral in 1985, it will undergo a major upgrade for the first time. Some parts will be replaced, and a new control console will appear, which will make the Polotsk organ more convenient for performers and the instrument's sound brighter.
Despite the fact that concerts in the famous cathedral continue, preparatory work for the main stage of modernization has already been carried out. Russian and Ukrainian specialists, together with the German organ-building firm "Häsler," will take part in the modernization of the organ. Simultaneously, they will carry out preventive maintenance, which was last performed in 1998. The Ministry of Culture of Belarus is financing the work, allocating Br1.5 billion for these purposes.
The Polotsk organ is known far beyond the borders of Belarus. For 17 years, the international organ music festival "Zvyany Safii" has been successfully held in the Saint Sophia Cathedral, attracting renowned performers from different countries. Ksenia Pogorelaya, a soloist of the concert hall of the Saint Sophia Cathedral and a laureate of an international competition, who was recently awarded the Medal of Francysk Skaryna, took part in the "Days of Francysk Skaryna in Prague" project, organized by the Embassy of Belarus in the Czech Republic with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture of Belarus and the Belarusian Union of Composers. The concert hall in the Saint Sophia Cathedral opened in 1983. Its hall is designed for 304 seats. In addition to the organ music festival, the International Festival of Ancient and Modern Chamber Music is held here.