Shanghai art center and Moscow conservatory to hold week-long educational events

Shanghai Oriental Art Center (SHOAC) will join hands with the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory in Russia to host a five-week long educational project in August.

A series of events, such as concerts by professors and the Chinese alumni of the conservatory, the SHOAC-Moscow Conservatory Summer Piano Academy, and a picture exhibition on the 160-year history of the esteemed Russian institution, will take place at the Shanghai Theater from Aug 18 to Sept 21.

Last year SHOAC signed its second five-year strategic cooperation framework with the conservatory. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Russian diplomatic ties, and the two sides decided to introduce the new conservatory at SHOAC project to facilitate further and in-depth collaboration through concerts, public-welfare events and art education programs.

The piano department of Moscow Conservatory has nurtured a series of internationally recognized musicians such as Sviatoslav Richter, Boris Berman and Vladimir Ashkenazy, as well as Chinese pianists Liu Shikun and Li Minduo.

Andrey Pisarev, head of the piano department at the conservatory, will join hands with Professor Pavel Nersessian to hold the SHOAC-Moscow Conservatory Summer Piano Academy from Aug 19 to 22.

Professor Pisarev and Professor Nersessian will work one-on-one with piano students aged above 10 in Shanghai and help them with the interpretation of traditional European repertoire by introducing the integration of Russia's music culture and the European music tradition, revealing the ideas and intentions behind the composers' creation and elaboration of the technical details in their performance.

The two professors will also jointly present a three-hour concert Marathon on Aug 18. Professor Pisarev will perform Schubert's Piano Sonata No 21 in B-flat major and Liszt's Piano Sonata in b minor, while Professor Nersessian will play Beethoven's beloved sonatas Pathetique and Moonlight, as well as Chopin's Ballades.

The Chinese alumni of the conservatory will present a gala concert for the SHOAC Citizen's Concert Series on the morning of Sept 21.

The Moscow Conservatory Rector Alexander Sokolov will visit the SHOAC on Sept 20 to discuss further communications and exchanges with the Shanghai Theater and turning the Moscow Conservatory at SHOAC project into a regular event every year.