A large-scale musical marathon, which united rock, classics, jazz, was held in Arkhangelsk with the support of the Culture Development Fund of the Arkhangelsk Region. Full halls, unexpected collaborations, bright experiments – for three weeks in October Arkhangelsk sounded in a special way. There were concerts, lectures, performances, art and photo exhibitions, performances, readings, jam sessions.
In total, the festival was attended by 4,500 spectators at 12 venues. Arkhangelsk musiс weeks is a nuclear mix of the avant-garde festival “International Jazz Days”, famous since Soviet times, one of the oldest rock festivals in the country “Belomor-Bugi” and an intriguing project of experiments with classics from the Pomor Philharmonic Society “Evolution”.
The program also included exhibitions, performances, performances and even poetry readings in English.
“Any self-respecting contemporary festival, if it claims to be an important arena for creating meanings and cultural environment, cannot live within the narrow boundaries of one genre or art direction. Therefore, Arkhangelsk Music Weeks is not just a music festival that unites genres, but rather a cultural forum, in which, in addition to music, there is a place for theater, literature and the visual arts, ”says festival producer, director of the Pomor Philharmonic Society Vasily Larionov.
The festival was attended by 150 musicians and special guests from 12 countries: Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Estonia, France, Germany, USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Israel, Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania
Pierre Edel, musician, participant of the festival, opened Arkhangelsk music weeks: “I was presented with a booklet with all the artists painted and I saw the familiar French band MORGBL, their leader Christophe Gaudin is a cool professional. I realized that very good, respectable musicians perform here, and the audience has the opportunity to see different ones. This is how we exchange the audience. “
During this musical marathon, the audience really witnessed the mixing of the genres of rock and jazz and made sure that high-quality live music has no boundaries. Feedback from the permanent spectator of the festival, Andrei Shalev, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Norway.
“When the mysterious performance of Sasha Mashin and Alina Sokulskaya is on the stage, melancholic reminiscences of Tynu Naisoo, brilliant and virtuoso musical fireworks by Leonid Ptashka, maestro Onufriev with his orchestra, ideally coinciding with the showman from Israel, energetic greetings from Belomor-Bugi in the form of“ jazz “Awesome Frenchmen whose names are easy to remember but impossible to reproduce, just like their music. And Tim Dorofeev with a great team consisting of our family and beloved Barandov, Klishin, Khabarov, Strelkov, Sedovin. And Kirill Moshkov as the host of the evening, which suits him very much. “
It was an offline podcast of the evolution of music – no pauses, rewinds or replays, only here and now, only live music. From the Alpine horn and Ryazan rattles to the electric guitar and synthesizer at 12 venues, in Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk. A festival that proved the special place of Arkhangelsk on the musical map of the world. “Arkhangelsk is that rare city, and indeed I think the only one that has created its own style. Thanks to Vladimir Rezitsky and the Arkhangelsk jazz group, they have created their own distinctive musical style, ”comments musician Vladimir Tarasov.
Festival events were sold out; it was difficult to buy a ticket for most of the events the day before the concert. According to the producer of the festival, Vasily Larionov, he assesses this experience of the joint music festival as positive and is confident that the music weeks will take place next year as well.
