The International Winter Arts Festival kicked off in Sochi on Saturday.  Musicians from Russia, Japan and Iran performed at the opening ceremony concert.

      

      The event was opened  by the Japanese violinist Akiko Sunavay, the Iranian pianist Ramin Barami, and the Russian singer Dmitry Korchak and the cellist Alexander Buzlov on the stage of the Winter Theater. The musicians were accompanied by the chamber orchestra Soloists of Moscow under conductorship of the maestro Yuri Bashmet, who is the art director of the festival.

      

      Representatives of the younger generation of the Russian and world performing art are participating in the festival. The state symphonic orchestra New Russia, the chamber ensemble Soloists of Moscow and the All-Russian Youth Symphonic Orchestra are also taking part in the concerts.

      

      This year the festival stands out with synergetic music and poetry projects. In particular the audience will listen to works by English composers of the 17th - 20th centuries, the Russian poets of the 20th century Vladimir Vysotsky, Joseph Brodsky and Lev Gumilyov, poetry by George Gordon Byron and Alexander Pushkin, as well as lyrics by the Spanish, German and Russian poets.