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Putin greets participants in 13th Moscow Easter Festival

MOSCOW, April 20, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a greeting message to the participants in and guests of the 13th Moscow Easter Festival that opens at the Moscow Conservatory later on Sunday.

“For over a decade now your creative forum has been bringing together an impressive number of talented and enthusiastic people, creating a festive atmosphere and offering a rich variety of performances,” the Kremlin website cites the presidential message. “The traditionally tight concert schedule includes performances by leading musical and choreographic groups, children’s choirs from Belarus, Armenia and Georgia, Finland and the Czech Republic, and from the Baltic states, as well as interesting meetings with masters of the vocal and instrumental arts.”

The president noted that over the period of its existence, the festival had considerable expanded its geography and this year it would “cover the entire territory of Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.”

“I would also like to note that this year’s festival is timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary since the beginning of World War I, the memory of which unites all our peoples,” the president said in the message. “I am certain that the festival’s events will find a warm welcome with the public and will leave a pleasant and unforgettable impression.”

The festival will be held till May 9 in 50 Russian cities. Its programme includes more than 110 concerts of symphonic, chamber, choral and bell music. Thus, the Mariinsky Theatre’s symphony orchestra directed by Valery Gergiev will give festival concerts in 20 Russian cities. Since the festival coincides with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, its participants will include musical companies of the Russian Armed Forces, for the first time in the festival’s history. Special attention will be focused on music composed by Modest Mussorgsky, whose 175th birth anniversary is marked in 2014.

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