Public performance auditions for the Atkins Young Artists Program candidates will take place at the Mariinsky Theare on June 25 and June 26 (the exact time will be announced later). The Atkins Young Artists Program is an international Mariinsky Theatre-based educational project.

Since the announcement of the competition, more than 100 applications from 13 countries have been received, including applications from Russia, the US, Columbia, Brazil, Japan, and Germany. After the online pre-screening, 28 vocalists were invited to Saint Petersburg for the final auditions scheduled to take place on June 25 and June 26 at the Mariinsky Theatre. The auditions will be open for public. Moreover, 25 singers who did not make it to the finals received invitations to take part in additional live auditions. After the auditions, they may get the chance to perform in the finals.

The Preliminary Audition Panel members included Diane Zola, Director of Artistic Administration at Houston Grand Opera, Michael Heaston, Executive Director of Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, Peter McClintock, opera director at the Metropolitan Opera, Nino Sanikidze, head-coach of the Los Angeles Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, Sarah Billinghurst Solomon, opera house administrator, artist manager and former Assistant General Manager for Artistic Affairs at the Metropolitan Opera, Mikhail Petrenko and Olga Kondina, soloists with the Mariinsky Theatre.

The Final Audition Panel members include Valery Gergiev, Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Veronica Atkins, Founder of the Atkins Young Artists Program at the Mariinsky, and Sarah Billinghurst Solomon, opera house administrator, artist manager and former Assistant General Manager for Artistic Affairs at the Metropolitan Opera. Moreover, the final auditions will be attended by the following members of the Atkins Young Artists Program Artistic Advisory Board: Eva Wagner-Pasquier, opera manager and consultant of the Bayreuth Festival, Diane Zola, Director of Artistic Administration at Houston Grand Opera.

In the days leading to the auditions, all 53 singers will have an opportunity to arrive in Saint Petersburg to participate in training sessions with the Atkins Young Artists Program Artistic Advisory Board members, concertmasters, language coaches, repetiteurs, and directors. Travel arrangements and accommodations for the finalists are provided by the Atkins Young Artists Program.

The Atkins Young Artists Program is an international educational project, established in 2015 under the patronage of Valery Gergiev. The program's goal is to support young opera singers at the start of their professional career. The program fellows will have a unique opportunity to perfect their vocal and performing skills under the direction of eminent teachers and concertmasters, to study abroad, to give solo concerts in Russia and beyond, to work with theatre administrators, managers, PR agencies, to collaborate with the leading opera companies, and to take part in the Mariinsky Theatre productions.

All the up-to-date information and lists of candidates can be found at the following link: www.atkinsyoungartists.org/home.html

The project is graciously sponsored by Veronica Atkins (the United States).

On 19 and 20 June, the first ballet premiere of the 25^th Stars of the White Nights festival, The Four Seasons directed by Ilya Zhivoy will be presented at the Mariinsky II featuring Ekaterina Kondaurova and Roman Belyakov (19 June) and Elena Yevseyeva and Xander Parish (20 June).

The Four Seasons composed by Max Richter (based on the music by Antonio Vivaldi) is the first two-act ballet by Ilya Zhivoy, a Mariinsky dancer and a regular member of the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers at the Mariinsky Ballet Festival. The new production is based on the choreographer’s piece SeasonS created for the 2015/16 Workshop. Then the music was based on Spring and Summer from The Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter. The upcoming premiere will rediscover the previously presented parts adding the new ones, Autumn and Winter.

"I have long loved Max Richter’s music, but when I heard his version of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, an explosion happened to me. While creating this choreography, I tried to get inside this music, to feel what threads it is made of, how these threads intertwine and what pattern they form. The Four Seasons is also composed as a cycle. You can see a change of emotions and states: love, hatred, indifference, the first spark and the great darkness. My characters are constantly facing a choice, they have to fight themselves and each other," Ilya Zhivoy explained.

The premiere of The Four Seasons can be seen online at mariinsky.tv.

The XXV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights at the Mariinsky Theatre celebrates Igor Stravinsky’s 135^th birthday. It features his ballets, as well as other musical pieces, and premieres L'Histoire du soldat, featuring members of the Children's Studio of the Mariinsky Theatre. The lobby of the Mariinsky II hosts an exhibition Igor Stravinsky. Mariinsky Theatre. Celebrating the Composer’s 135^th Birthday.

On June 17, in honour of Stravinsky’s birthday, his music will be played at all Mariinsky venues in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre historic stage will host The Firebird (16.00) and an evening of Stravinsky’s ballets (20.00), featuring Anastasia Petushkova, Alexander Romanchikov, Anton Korsakov, Yana Selina, Yury Smekalov, Yekaterina Ivannikova, and Roman Belyakov.

The Concert Hall will premiere a stage version of L'Histoire du soldat performed under Ivan Stolbov, featuring musicians from the Mariinsky Orchestra and Children’s Studio of the Mariinsky Theatre (15.00). The production is directed by Gleb Cherepanov, with video design by Maya Khlobystina. Drawings by members of the Children’s Studio of the Mariinsky Theatre and participants of the Small Art History project are used for the settings.

Later in the evening, the Concert Hall will host Stravinsky Gala, an extensive music programme under the baton of Valery Gergiev, featuring the Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra, as well as soloists Sergei Redkin (piano), Zarina Shimanskaya (piano), Eduard Kiprsky (piano), Alisa Dukhovlinova (piano), and Pavel Milyukov (violin) (19.00). It includes the violin concerto, music from Les noces and The Firebird, and the Symphony in C.

Visiting musicians, as well as the Mariinsky Theatre company, have dedicated their programmes to Stravinsky’s 135^th anniversary. On June 17, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) will perform at the Stravinsky Foyer (Mariinsky II). The programme includes Italian Suite from Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella for violin and piano, and works by Dmitry Shostakovich, Mark O’Сonnor, and George Gershwin.

On June 18, Leonid Karev will play Stravinsky’s works arranged for organ at the Concert Hall (21.00). The programme also includes pieces by Robert Schumann and Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Mariinsky II hosts an exhibition in honour of Stravinsky’s birth anniversary. It covers the history of productions of his works at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatre. The composer’s life was closely linked with the Mariinsky Theatre, since his father, Fyodor Stravinsky, had been a great success at the Mariinsky for a quarter of a century. The exhibition unveils the theatre collection of photographs, archival documents, and stage costumes (most of which are still in use today), including those from the ballets Le Sacre du printemps and Pétrouchka designed by Nicholas Roerich and Alexander Benois. Plasma displays will show videos from recent productions, as well as unique photographs from the Stravinsky family archives kindly provided for the exhibition by the Igor Stravinsky Foundation.

Three performances of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) known for highest quality of performance and inspirational programmes, will take place from June 16 to June 18 at the Mariinsky Theater. In St Petersburg, the CMS will be represented by Orion Weiss (piano), Wu Han (piano), Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Arno Sussmann (violin), Paul Neubauer (viola), David Finckel (cello), Paul Huang (violin).

On June 16 and 17 the group will perform at The Stravinsky Foyer (Mariinsky II). On the first day the programme will include will sound: the suite Souvenirs for piano four hands by Samuel Barber, The Sonatina in G major for violin and piano by Antonín Dvořák, Piano Quintet in G minor by Sergey Taneyev (20.00).
On June 17 (17.00) the concert will be dedicated to the 135^th anniversary of the birth of Igor Stravinsky. The programme wil include Italian Suite from the ballet Pulcinella for violin and piano by Igor Stravinsky, Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor by Dmitry Shostakovich, F.C.’s Jig for violin and viola by Mark O’Сonnor, and Rhapsody in Blue for piano four hands by George Gershwin.

The final CMS performance will be held at the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall on June 18 (14.00). Appearing with the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the musicians will present Violin Sonata No.  2 in D major by Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Quintet No. 2 by Antonín Dvořák, and Violin Concerto No. 4 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Soloist: Paul Huang (violin).

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), founded in 1969, sets a high chamber music performing standard all over the world. For their performances at home, in Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center, as well as in the most prestigious venues of North America, Europe and Asia, CMS selects the best performers, more than 150 musicians per season. The mission of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society (CMS) is to bring chamber music to people of all ages, education, and musical background. CMS also promotes young artists’ careers supporting them through the CMS Two program, which provides the opportunity to perform to gifted young musiciams and ensembles.

On June 18 and 21, at the XXV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights the premiere of the opera Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea will take place at Mariinsky II. The first ever Mariinsky performance will feature a star cast for the main roles: Anna Netrebko (Adriana Lecouvreur), Yusif Eyvazov (Maurice de Saxe), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Princess de Bouillon). The premiere will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.

For the stage version of Adriana Lecouvreur Isabelle Partiot-Pieri (France) was chosen as stage director and production designer. She is known to the Mariinsky audience for her work at Pagliacci (stage director) and Turandot (production designer). The costumes are designed by famous Christian Gasc, winner of Molière Award and César Awards. "In my production, I sought to combine real historical facts with the characters’ relations as presented in the opera. Apart from the melodramatic love story of the main character, it was also important for me to show her search for the truth, la verita", Isabelle Partiot-Pieri says.

The world premiere of Adriana Lecouvreur on the libretto by Arturo Colautti based on a play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé took place on November 6, 1902 in Teatro Lirico, Milan. Originally, the critics showed little enthusiasm for the opera considering it insignificant. However, its dramatism and the comfortable tessitura of the title role made it popular with many well-known performers, and lucky combination of melodrama with comic interludes of backstage life scenes as well as its bright passionate melodies have kept the opera in the repertoire of the world’s musical theaters for 115 years.

Sponsor of premier shows:

The Mariinsky Theatre officially announces that its prima ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina is retiring from ballet.

Due to serious professional injuries, Ulyana Lopatkina decided to officially end her dancing career. “It is hard for me to express all my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This difficult profession is extremely demanding and my ballet career has given me a lot. I want to express my gratitude to all those whom I have met along my creative path. All those who were my mentors, friends, assistants; those who inspired me, were demanding of me; those who consoled me and took care of me, who believed in me, thanked me and supported me. All those who worked by my side and collaborated with me. And my audience, all those who understood me and gave me rounds of applause. I keep you all in my heart! I want to say ‘thank you’ to every single one of you! My joy is bittersweet. I say goodbye to you with gratitude and with that sense of satisfaction from a job well done”, says Ulyana Lopatkina in an official message.

As part of the Stars of the White Nights festival, on June 10 and June 13, on two rare occasions, Leon Botstein will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra. Botstein is Principal Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and the President of the Bard College (a private liberal arts college in the state of New York).

June 10 will see the concert In the Lead-Up to Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Anniversary at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. The anniversary of Leonard Bernstein, one of the greatest conductors of the 20^th century, who was also a pianist, lecturer, and talented composer, will be widely celebrated all over the world in 2018.
The composer’s own music – the fragments from the operetta Candide, based on Voltaire’s novella Candide, ou l'Optimisme – along with the works of Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland, whose music was so beloved by Bernstein, as well as the works of Ludwig van Beethoven will be performed at the special concert. Anastasia Kalagina (soprano) and Olga Pudova (soprano) will sing the vocal parts.

June 13 will see the performance of Sergei Taneyev’s only opera, Oresteia (concert performance), at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. The opera has now come full circle and returns to the Mariinsky Theatre, where it had its world premiere. The performers includes the soloists of the Mariinsky Opera, the ensemble of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers, and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Leon Botstein. Anna Kiknadze (Clytemnestra), Dmitry Voropaev (Orestes), and Pavel Shmulevich (Agamemnon) will perform the main roles.

Stage history of Sergei Taneyev’s musical trilogy is hardly eventful, even 100 years after its premiere in 1895. Oresteia was withdrawn from the Mariinsky Theatre repertoire after only eight performances. This was mostly due to the difficult relationships between the uncompromising author and the no less demanding conductor Eduard Nápravník, who insisted on making enormous cuts. The production returned to the repertoire only after the composer’s death in 1915, but did not enjoy great success with wider audiences. Since then Oresteia has been staged only a few times: in Moscow (1917), Minsk (1963), Saratov (2011), and in 2013 near New York, at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The first foreign production of Oresteia with the participation of Russian artistes, including the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre Lyubov Sokolova (as Clytemnestra) and Mikhail Vekua (as Orestes), was the highlight of the Summer Festival, annually organized by the Bard College.

July 15 – August 13
Artistic Director: Valery Gergiev

• 30 days, 40 performances and concerts;
• Marking 135 years since the birth of Igor Stravinsky and 85 years since the birth of Rodion Shchedrin;
• 7 concert venues in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, ans Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk;
• The performances of the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev in Harbin (China) and Tongyeong (South Korea);
• The Mariinsky Theatre debut in Pyeongchang, where the 2018 Winter Olympics are set to take place;
• The first tour of the Ballet and Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Harbin (China);
• Valery Gergiev's concerts with the Pacific Music Festival Youth Orchestra in Sapporo (Japan).

The II International Mariinsky Far East Festival (Vladivostok) will run from July 15 to August 13, 2017. The main venue for the Festival is the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The Festival will open at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, which will see the premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky. The Mariinsky Ballet will perform the production in Vladivostok three times, on July 15 and July 16. The series of ballet events will continue with a meet-the-artist event with Vladimir Shklyarov, Principal Dancer with the Mariinsky Theatre, who will visit the Primorsky Stage for the first time. The programme of the event includes Shklyarov’s performances of Éric Gautier’s Ballet 101, Hopak choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov, and Yuri Smekalov’s version of Ne me quitte pas with the soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet Anastasia Kolegova and Maxim Zyuzin (July 18).

The Festival will present the Far East opera premieres: July 26 and August 5 will see the premiere of Richard Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, staged by British director Ian Judge and featuring one of the best performers of the part of the Flying Dutchman – Yevgeny Nikitin. The role of Senta will be performed by the soloists of the Mariinsky Opera – Elena Stikhina (July 26) and Mlada Khudoley (August 5). One of the most significant premieres of the Mariinsky Theatre in recent years – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra, staged by Andrea de Rosa – will premiere in Vladivostok on August 8 and August 11. The leading Mariinsky Opera soloists and guest singers will take part in the performances, namely Tatiana Serjan, Irina Churilova, Otar Jorjikia, Sergei Skorokhodov, Roman Burdenko, Vladislav Sulimsky, and Mikhail Petrenko. The Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The great Russian opera – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride – will be presented as a semi-staged performance by the young generation of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage soloists under the baton of Pavel Smelkov (August 7). The performance of The Enchanted Wandered by Rodion Shchedrin, whose anniversary is celebrated this year, will be conducted by Valery Gergiev (August 9). The 2016/17 season opera premieres at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will be performed under the baton of Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang (Rigoletto, July 29) and Pavel Smelkov (Macbeth, August 10). Tatiana Serjan, Vladislav Sulimsky, and Mikhail Petrenko are scheduled to take part in the performances.

One of the most sought after sopranos on the world opera stage – Albina Shagimuratova – will once again come to the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre for the Festival. The singer will perform as Donna Anna in the semi-staged performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni (August 3), present her solo programme (July 31), and take part in the gala concert marking the Navy Day (July 30). The Mozart cycle will continue with a semi-staged performance of the opera Le nozze di Figaro with the participation of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage soloists and the Primorsky Stage Orchestra under the baton of Nikolaj Znaider (August 6). The Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will open a series of performances at the Festival with the Stravinsky in Vladivostok concert (July 25). The Symphony Programme of the Festival includes the names of the leading European and Asian musicians: Daniel Lozakovitj, a 16-year-old Swedish virtuoso violinist (Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, August 6); Nobuyuki Tsujii, one of the leading Japanese pianists (Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, August 9); the eminent Russian pianist Denis Matsuev (a cycle of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos, August 4 and August 5); Ziyu He (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5, July 25), an 18-year-old virtuoso violinist, a rising star in China and a prize-winner at many European music competitions. The Small Hall of the Primorsky Stage will see the performances of the violinists who have won prizes at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition – Clara-Jumi Kang (Korea) with the Primorsky Stage Orchestra (July 27) and Yu-Chien Tseng (Taiwan) with a solo programme (August 2).
The performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps by the musicians of both the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Primorsky Stage Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will be the highlight of the festival (August 6).
The Chamber Ensemble of the Primorsky Stage under the direction of Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici, Concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic, will perform twice at the Festival (July 20 and July 23).

The concert venues for the II International Mariinsky Far East Festival also include the Primorsky Regional Philharmonic, Officers of the Pacific Fleet of Russia Club, the Ocean All-Russian Children Centre, situated at the Emar Bay, 20 kilometres away from Vladivostok (August 3), the Small Hall and the Summer Stage of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, as well as Ussuriysk (August 4) and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (August 6).

The ballet playbill of the Festival features a major premiere of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre for the 2016/17 season – Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty with choreography by Marius Petipa and the participation of guest soloists from Japan and the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre (July 21 and July 22). The programme also includes Adolphe Adam’s ballet Giselle with the rising South Korean star Soo-Bin Lee (July 19) and guest soloists from China (August 12), Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (July 27 and July 28) with the guest soloists who have won prizes at international competitions. The guest star of the Festival is The National Ballet of China. The Company is to perform their diverse gala programme twice (August 1 and August 2) at the Festival.

This year’s Festival will present a colourful international programme. The Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev is scheduled to perform in Harbin (China) on August 7. The Primorsky Stage Ballet and Orchestra are set to present the ballet Le Corsaire staged by Eldar Aliev at the Harbin Grand Theatre (August 9 and August 10). The performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges by the soloists and the choir of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers and the Mariinsky Orchestra, as well as a gala concert of the Mariinsky Theatre soloists will take place in Pyeongchang (South Korea), the capital city of the 2018 Winter Olympics, on July 29 and July 30. The Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will give a performance in Tongyeong (South Korea). Moreover, Valery Gergiev will also conduct a performance by the Pacific Music Festival Youth Orchestra in Sapporo, Japan (the end of July – the beginning of August).

The Festival will conclude with Carl Orff’s scenic cantata Carmina Burana performed by the Primorsky Stage soloists, choir and orchestra under the direction of German conductor Justus Frantz (August 13).

Right after the end of the Festival, the Primorsky Stage Ballet will visit Saint Petersburg for the very first time. The historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will see the artistes from Vladivostok present a ballet soirée to mark 135 years since the birth of Igor Stravinsky (George Balanchine’s Apollo and The Firebird choreographed by Eldar Aliev), as well as Adolphe Adam’s ballet Giselle with the choreography by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa. The tour is scheduled to take place from August 15 to August 20.

Dear colleagues,

We invite you to the press conference of Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre’s Artistic and General Director, set to take place at 16.00 on June 7. The conference will be dedicated to the II International Mariinsky Far East Festival, scheduled to run from July 15 to August 13, 2017 in Vladivostok, as well as in Ussuriysk and Harbin (China).

Valery Gergiev is to announce the programme and the participants of the II International Mariinsky Far East Festival. The Festival will unite the most brilliant soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and eminent guest performers from Russia, Asia, and Europe at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Venue: Mariinsky II, the Stravinsky Foyer
Address: 34 Dekabristov st.

The press is allowed in from 15.30 (the main entrance to the Mariinsky II).

Accreditation is required.
Accreditation can be confirmed via telephone (812) 714 4164, +7 (911) 225 16 07 (Ekaterina Ordovskaya), +7 (981) 969 34 67 (Ekaterina Matryonina) or by e-mail press@mariinsky.ru

On June 7 (20:00) a series of chamber ensembles performances will open with an instrumental trio performance at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Hungarian musicians – violinist Kristóf Baráti, with his truly unique musical talent and multiple awards, including the most prestigious Hungarian Arts Award, and István Várdai, a representative of the young generation of cellists, who has already gained broad international recognition – are set to perform with Zarina Shimanskaya (piano), a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire and a prize-winner at various international competitions. The Beethoven mono programme includes the Sonata No. 7 for violin and piano, Sonata No. 5 for cello and piano, and the Piano Trio in B-flat major (the Archduke Trio).

On June 10 (16.00) the String Sextets of Johannes Brahms (the String Sextet No. 2) and Pyotr Tchaikovsky (the String Sextet Souvenir de Florence) will be performed at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. The performers for the night are Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici, a Romanian violinist and soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre, Wilfried Strehle, a German viola player, and the musicians of the Mariinsky Orchestra. The following day Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici will put on his conductor hat and perform with the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble. The programme includes Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Astor Piazzolla’s The Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (June 11, the Concert Hall, 19.00).

June 12 will see the performance of the young musicians of the Sibelius Academy Cello Ensemble headed by Martti Rousi at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre (16.00). The renowned Finnish cellist and his students, many of whom have won prizes at national and international competitions and have frequently performed as soloists, first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in 2015 and have since given concerts at the Theatre every year. The ensemble’s repertoire spans different styles and periods – from the Renaissance and the Baroque to the Romantic-era composers and the classical composers of the 20th century. At the Stars of the White Nights festival, the ensemble will perform the works of Jean Baptiste Breval, David Popper, Jean Sibelius, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Aija Puurtinen, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. The soloist – soprano coloratura Piia Komsi.

The Stars of the White Nights festival will also feature the performances of such renowned ensembles as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Centre, known for its impeccable performing skills (June 16 – 18, the Stravinsky Foyer and the Concert Hall), and the Philharmonix ensemble, which unites the musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic (June 24, the Concert Hall, 21.00).