GUITAR VIRTUOSI MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
One of the biggest classical guitar festivals in the world and biggest one in Russia.
Guitar Virtuosi Moscow International Festival was founded in 2006 by Moscow Philharmonic Society. Since then it has become one of the most well-known and recognized classical guitar events in the world and the biggest in Russia. The festival concert program traditionally includes four-six concerts and a rich educational program within one week at the end of March and provides a unique opportunity to enjoy a remarkable choice of the classical guitar performances: solo recitals, duos, ensembles and concerts with truly a pearl of the world orchestral stage and one of the best Russian orchestras — Evgeny Svetlanov State Symphony Orchestra. Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, one of the main Russia’s concert venues, is the festival venue since the very beginning
The festival educational program launched at 2015 and features lectures and master-classes by the festival soloists and special guests and runs either at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music or at the Yury Bashmet's Educational and Art Center in Moscow.
World famous classical guitar soloists from more than 20 countries including Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Brazil, USA, Japan, Germany, UK, Austria, Israel, Russia, Netherlands, Montenegro, Hungary, Cuba and many others, such classical guitarists as Pepe Romero, Sergio and Odair Assad, Aniello Desiderio, Zoran Dukic, Pavel Steidl, Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey and Ricardo Gallen, Kostas Kotsiolis, Marcin Dylla, Fabio Zanon, Jose Antonio Escobar, Jeremy Jouve, Thibaut Garcia along with many other brilliant musicians performed in the festival over the years. Pianists Boris Berezovsky and Dmitry Masleev, violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky were amoung the festival special guiests.
The world premiere of the eight (out of thirteen) movements Tan Dun's multimedia work Nu Shu: the Secret Songs of Women guitar transcription generated a lot of buzz aroun the festival in 2019. Nu Shu is a disappearing language with a long vocal tradition created by women for women in Hunan, China in the 13th century. Several years of Tan Dun's research resulted in more than 200 hours of documentary footage. In 2013, he edited it down to 13 "microfilms" and composed all new music to accompany them. The piece titled Nu Shu: the Secret Songs of Women was commissioned by the NHK and Philadelphia orchestras. In 2018, Tan Dun invited Artyom Dervoed to transcribe Nu Shu for the guitar.
Every year rich palette of the classical guitar repertoire is carefully selected by the festival Artistic director Artyom Dervoed and includes the works from renaissance to modern compositions (presenting the world or Russian premieres) as long as the famous classical pieces arranged for the guitar. Every year festival program provides the great opportunity to listen to the classical guitar solo, in ensemble with other instruments and with a symphony orchestra.
More than 70 000 have visited the festival over its history while more than 5 500 come every year, not including the audience of the live streaming from Tchaikovsky Concert Hall available all over the world.