Grand Opening of the 22nd 'Hibla Gerzmava Invites...' Music Festival in Sukhum
Created by opera diva Hibla Gerzmava in 2001, the festival is held annually in Abkhazia.
SUKHUM / AQW'A ― The grand opening of the 22nd Music Festival "Hibla Gerzmava Invites..." is set to take place in Sukhum on 15th July. Created by the renowned opera diva Hibla Gerzmava in 2001, this festival has been held annually in Abkhazia.
Since 2014, it has expanded its borders, featuring performances in prestigious venues such as the Great Hall of the Conservatory and the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, and in St. Moritz, Switzerland
Over the past 20 years, the festival has hosted giants of the world music scene, including Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra "Moscow Virtuosi," Elena Obraztsova, Denis Matsuev, Ildar Abdrazakov, Felix Korobov, Alexander Rudin, Deborah Brown, Elina Garanca, Jose Cura, Yusif Eivazov, and Daniele Callegari, among others. The long-standing permanent leader of the concerts was the esteemed art critic Svyatoslav Belza.
Valery Gergiev & Hibla Gerzmava
This year, for the first time, the festival will feature Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra. Accompanied by the orchestra under the baton of Maestro Gergiev, soloists from the Mariinsky Theatre Opera Company and Hibla Gerzmava herself will perform.
The festival's opening concert will be dedicated to the 75th birthday of the late Sergey Bagapsh, the second president of Abkhazia. The programme will include four diverse concerts across the Republic of Abkhazia, six musical events in various cities in Russia, and two in China. The festival is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
The opening concert will be held on the open stage in front of the Abkhazian State Drama Theatre named after Samson Chanba.