Student Symphony Orchestra of the Kurmangazy Conservatory will take part in the Festival of Yuri Bashmet

The Student Symphony Orchestra of the Kazakh National Conservatory has been invited to participate in one of the most significant musical events of the year – the 2nd World Youth Orchestras Festival in Moscow. The festival is organized by the renowned maestro Yuri Bashmet and the All-Russian Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The Kazakh orchestra will present a program that includes masterpieces of world classics, such as the overture to the opera "William Tell" by Gioachino Rossini, the symphonic picture "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky, and the fourth movement of Antonín Dvořák's famous Symphony No. 9 "From the New World." A special place in the program will be given to works by Kazakh composers: the symphonic kuy "Kudasha-duman" by Yerkegali Rakhmadiyev and a suite from the ballet "Steppe Legend" by Tles Kazhgaliyev, whose 75th anniversary is being celebrated this year in the cultural community of Kazakhstan. The orchestra will perform under the direction of two conductors – Dastan Ibragimov and Naryn Kazhgali (brother of Tles Kazhgaliyev).

In addition, eight students from the conservatory were selected to join the combined Youth Symphony Orchestra of the CIS countries, which, under the baton of Yuri Bashmet, will perform a program of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This event will be a significant moment in the careers of the young musicians and will demonstrate the high level of their training.

The festival will take place from August 16 to 18 in an open-air format at one of Moscow's most prestigious venues – the large amphitheater in Zaryadye Park. Each festival day will feature three concerts, the final one being conducted by maestro Yuri Bashmet. The Kazakh ensemble will perform on the closing day of the festival, August 18. This tour will be the first major international performance by the student orchestra since the pandemic.

The festival will feature nine youth orchestras from Kazakhstan, China, Serbia, as well as ensembles from Saint Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, and Izhevsk. A distinctive feature of the festival is the creation of combined youth symphony orchestras from BRICS and CIS countries, which will present their unique programs for the first time.

The first World Youth Orchestras Festival took place in August 2023, bringing together musicians from Algeria, Uzbekistan, China, South Korea, Moldova, Serbia, Chile, the UAE, Colombia, and Bosnia. The World Youth Symphony Orchestra, created as part of the festival, performed at the closing ceremony under the direction of Yuri Bashmet. The success of the 2023 event laid the foundation for its annual continuation.