World-renowned musicians to perform free concert in Preston

16 February 2018

UCLan organises event to explore Russian culture through music

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) will explore 200 years of Russian musical culture by bringing two world-renowned musicians to perform in Preston.

Prominent music scholars Cyrill Ibrahim and Elena Artamonova, who are respected world-wide for their expertise in playing the piano and viola respectively, will play in Preston at a free concert on 21 February at Cardinal Newman College.

The evening, part of a Russian studies programme of events organised by UCLan’s School of Languages and Global Studies, will include a talk by the musicians on Russian musical culture, going as far back as 200 years ago.  The duo will then perform a concert with music composed by M Glinka, A Grechaninov and M Balakirev.

Dr Olga Tabachnikova, Reader in Russian and Subject Leader for Russian studies at UCLan, has organised the event.  She said: “We are looking forward to welcoming two globally renowned musicians to perform in the city and to share a history of Russian music in an entertaining and exciting way.  Throughout the academic year we organise numerous events to promote Russian studies and find music is a great way to bridge the gap between different cultures.”

Cyrill became Artist of the Week on BBC Radio 3 shortly after the release of his début album, Dialogue, which features works by Bach, Debussy, Schubert and Schumann. He has also appeared on BBC One’s The One Show and recently played live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune. Violist and researcher Dr Elena Artamonova has published worldwide on the history of the viola and its repertoire, and on the history of Russian music of the 20th Century. She has brought to light information about Russian-Soviet musical life that was not previously known either in Russia or the West.

The event, entitled ‘The Birth of Music out of the spirit of Russian culture. From Glinka to our days’ is free but people need to register online via Ticket Source.

It will take place in the Performance Studio, Basement of St Cecilia’s Building, Cardinal Newman College on Wednesday 21 February 6.00pm – 8.00pm.  The performance will be followed by a reception.