Folklore Ensemble “Rozhdestvo” performed at Nadezhda Babkina’s Festival at Kuzbass
Novosibirsk Philharmonic’s Folklore Ensemble “Rozhdestvo” participated at the festival-marathon “Songs of Russia” which took place on 21-28th August at Kuzbass. The author and artistic director of the project is People’s Artist of Russia Nadezhda Babkina. The festival united charity concerts dedicated to the Miner’s Day, the total audience reached the amount of 35 thousand people. Performances took place in 10 cities of Kemerovo Region.
The Festival “Songs of Russia” was opened in Novokuznetsk and Prokopyevsk District of Kemerovo Region on 21st of August. Further there were open-air concerts in Prokopyevsk, Tashtagol, Osinniki, Mezhdurechensk, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Kemerovo, Mariinsk and Belovo. Along with Folklore Ensemble “Rozhdestvo” the following collectives performed in the festival’s concert program – artists of Moscow State Musical Theater of Folklore “Russkaya Pesnya”. Folklore Ensemble “Aylanys” (Khakassia Republic), Govener;’s Theater of Dance “Siberian Kaleidoscope” of Kuzbass State Philharmonic, the performer of throat singing Albina Degtyariova (Sakha Republic) and other national creative collectives of the region. Amateur groups perform on the same stage with professionals and in this neighborhood one of the ideas of this festival-marathon lies.
“We want to share our secrets with collectives, their leaders and all people who are interested in this. Our task is to make a creative interchange, to connect amateur and professional work", - emphasizes the founder and permanent director of the ensemble "Russian song" Nadezhda Babkina.
Our Ensemble has gone through this musical marathon from start to finish: for eight days, from 21 to 28 August, we took part in ten concerts, - says Olga Gurina, artistic director of the Folklore Ensemble of Novosibirsk Philharmonic "Rozhdestvos" - I must say that this tour was very difficult – we had to literally live "on wheels". And to move with a lot of musical instruments, with scenic costumes is a task twice as hard. But, of course, participation in this great project was worth it.
According to Olga Gurina, festival-marathon "Song of Russia" is a unique event that requires tremendous tension forces of the organizing committee.
“It is impossible not to note the very high level of organization. Two of the ten concerts were held in the buildings, and the rest were held on the street, on the mobile scene of the highest level of technical equipment, which traveled from town to town with us, - says Olga Gurina, - I am pleased that Nadezhda Georgievna praised the level of Folklore Ensemble "Rozhdestvo": and she, and other musicians awarded our originality and our desire to preserve and cultivate the traditional cultural values. I, in my turn, believe that we just did a good job - worthily presented Novosibirsk Philharmonic and Novosibirsk region in this widescale project”
Novosibirsk Folklore Ensemble "Rozhdestvo" is one of the most promising and vibrant Russian collectives in the genre of folk performance. Its main task is the revival and preservation of folk song tradition. Folklore Ensemble leads a huge concert, educational and research work. The music of composers written for folk voice takes noticeable place in the collective’s creative work. Another bright side of collective’s activities is the study of traditional folk clothing. The ensemble has collected a rich collection of folk costumes, emphasizing the brightness and originality of scenic images. In their work, the artists are based on authentic examples of folk song and dance. The artistic director of the Folklore Ensemble "Rozhdestvo" is Olga Gurina, Honored Artist of Russia.