Foreign students of the Institute of International Education visited the XVI Constellation of Masters International Festival

In order to introduce foreign students to Russian culture and traditions, the Department of Russian Language (as a Foreign Language) of the Institute of International Education organized a visit to the gala concert “Balalaika — the Soul of Russia”, which was held as part of the XVI Constellation of Masters International Festival. The concert was attended by students from Algeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Republic of Chad, Turkmenistan.

The festival dedicated to the art of performing musical works of various genres on folk instruments was held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of Moscow. The festival united talented performers from all over Russia at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music. The concert was the final chord. The young laureates of the competition were accompanied by the Russia State Academic Folk Ensemble named after L. Zykina, conductor – Dmitry Dmitrienko, Honored Artist of Russia. The virtuoso performance of the festival participants was amazing: very young talents were able to demonstrate high-class playing on the balalaika. Well-known works in a new interpretation were performed on stage: concert variations on the theme of the well-known folk song “Kalinka”, the romance “Dark Cherry Shawl”, compositions by N. Paganini, and many other musical variations for folk instruments.

Having enjoyed Russian folk music to the heart’s content, foreign students had a chance to get acquainted with the winners of the competition in person and ask questions about the difficulties of playing in traditional Russian instruments.