The Yuri Bashmet International Music Festival

Address:	Minsk View on Map Get Directions
Date:	20/05/2024 - 10/11/2017

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The Bashmet Festival became one of the most important music events in Europe not only because the best artists of our time are performing on it’s stage, but also because of a special format and dialogue with the festival audience, which it’s Artistic Director Rostislav Krimer holds. Best artists of our time took part at the Festival – Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Gidon Kremer, Julian Rachlin, Viktor Tretyakov, Yuri Bashmet, Mario Brunello, Natalia Gutman, Paul Badura-Skoda, Barry Douglas, Nikolai Lugansky, Alexei Lubimov so as Grammy-Winners Chamber ensembles “Moscow Soloists” and “Kremerata Baltica”, State Symphony Orchestra “Novaya Rossiya”, Camerata of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Soloists of Bolshoi and Marrinsky Theatres, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra among many other great names.

One of the most important messages of the Festival is promoting of contemporary music. Greatest composers of our time, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli have been honorary guests of the Festival during premieres of their music in Minsk and gave lections at the Belarus Music Academy. Annually, the Festival is ordering a world premiere for contemporary composers, which is played during the Bashmet Festival by the Symphony Orchestra. The Festival feels important to bring young generation to classical music and making it with great success. The audience of the festival since 2006 became younger almost for 15 years, and average age today is 40.

The Visiting card of the Festival traditionally includes philanthropic projects such as numerous master-classes of famous musicians, lections and meetings with great artists, free entrance of best music students to festival concerts as well as charity concerts. As a special project, during the Bashmet Fetstival for three times took place the CIS Youth Music Academy, where best young talents from the CIS-Countries and best professors from Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, London, Berlin and Paris gathered in Minsk. Young artists had a chance not only of getting free lessons by great professors so as free flights and accommodation, but also the chance to play on one stage with amazing artists and attend all the festival concerts. This was the first project of such an art in the former USSR territory and had no analogues.