On July 7, the final full-time stage of the I-st All-Russian Contest of young musicians "Sozvezdie" starts in the Science and Art Park "Sirius". The participants of the Contest are the graduates of the Educational Center "Sirius" at the age of 11−18, who distinguished themselves by outstanding achievements in the art of performing music. The final stage involves 17 musicians representing 11 regions of Russia.
Pavel Milyukov (violin), a soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic, a laureate of the XV International Tchaikovsky Contest, a member of the Jury of the Ist All-Russian Contest of young musicians "Sozvezdie" and Ivan Bessonov (piano), the First-Prize winner of the "Eurovision 2018" Young Musicians Contest, a graduate of the Educational Center "Sirius" will perform at the Opening Ceremony.
July 8 and 9 are the days of competitive auditions. Competitions are held in three academic areas: the piano, the orchestra violin family and the orchestra woodwind and percussion instruments. Participants perform in two solo tours with a program for 20−30 minutes. All participants of the first round go to the second one.
Admission to the competitive auditions in the Bolshoi Concert Hall of the Park of Science and Art "Sirius" is free of charge.
The laureates of the "Sozvezdie" Contest in each of the areas will be announced at the Grand Closing Ceremony on July 11 at 7:00 pm. The Contest will end with the Gala concert of the first prize winners, according to the results of which the Grand Prix can be awarded at the discretion of the Jury.
The Sirius students who are actually both the students of the Nizhny Novgorod, Ural and Kazan conservatories and the recipients of the Russian Federation President grants, participate in arranging all of the events of the Contest.
On the days of the Contest, the advanced training teachers courses for peculiarities of working with gifted children in the music education will be held in "Sirius" for the first time. The expert organization and methodical partner is the Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. Tchaikovsky. The above courses will be attended by the number of 50 teachers from children’s Music Schools, as well as children’s Art Schools and Colleges in the Far Eastern, Volga and Southern Federal Districts, the Republic of Crimea, Perm, Kaliningrad and Kemerovo.
The programme of the courses includes master classes by leading teachers of the country working in "Sirius" with the students of the July musical programme "Music Performing Arts", as well as some lectures, seminars and roundtable discussions with the members of the "Sozvezdie" Contest Jury and outstanding figures of Russian culture. The course participants will attend all the events of the final stage of the Ist All-Russian Contest of Young Musicians "Sozvezdie".
***
The Educational Center "Sirius" was opened by the Foundation "Talent and Success" in 2015 by the decision of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, who heads its Board of Trustees. The purpose of working of the Center is the early detection, development and further professional support of children who have shown outstanding abilities in the field of arts, sports, and natural sciences. Up to 800 children at the age from 10 to 17 from all regions of Russia come to "Sirius" every month. For four years, more than 30 thousand schoolchildren have become the graduates of "Sirius". Among the graduates' achievements are victories in international and all-Russian science Olympiads, sport competitions, music and art contests. More than five thousand achievements of the highest level belongs to the graduates of "Sirius" in total.
***
The Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. Tchaikovsky is worldwide-known educational institution with a unique system of early vocational education. The main purpose of its activity is to educate musicians of the highest class. Among the graduates of the Central Music School are the brilliant musicians whose names make up the pride of Russian and world music: Denis Matsuev, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Nikolai Lugansky, Leonid Kogan, Vladimir Spivakov, Mikhail Pletnev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Krainev, Victor Tretyakov and many, many others. The graduates of the Central Music School became the laureates of the I Prize of the International Competition named after P. Tchaikovsky for 10 times, the II-nd Prize and the III-rd Prize for 9 times accordingly. Two of them became the laureates while still being students of the Central Music School: Daniel Kharitonov (class of the Professor V. Pyasetsky) and Yoko Sato (class of the Professor L. Kogan).