The XXIV International Organ Music Festival "Bells of Sophia" will be held from October 20 to November 24 in Polotsk
Musicians from Belarus, France, Germany, Russia, Poland, and Japan will perform under the cathedral's vaults. During the festival, alongside the organ, music connoisseurs will be able to enjoy the sounds of the baroque trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, orchestra, choir, and recorder. Belarusian musicians Tatyana Gavrilova (soprano), organist Kallinika Medvedeva, and Alexander Akhremko (baroque trumpet) will perform the program "L'anima vivente" on October 20. It will feature works by Bach, Handel, Purcell, and Vivaldi.
The festival will open on October 24 at 6:00 PM with a concert by Ksenia Pogorela, organist of the Saint Sophia Cathedral, the chamber choir of the Gomel Regional Philharmonic, and the "Europe-Center" orchestra. Rail Sadykov will be conducting.
On other days, attendees can listen to classical music performed by French organist Pierre Zevort, and Russian musicians Denis Makhan'kov and Dina Ikhina. Japanese organist Hiroko Inoue and saxophonist Veronika Kozhukharova will also perform in Polotsk. Suzanne Ehrhardt from Germany, a virtuoso recorder and clarinet player, will be heard on November 17. The festival program will conclude with a concert by Polish organist Michał Kocoń (November 24).