Days of Philippine Culture in Russia Opens in Moscow, Draws Hundreds of Russians to its Gala Performance
Members of the PWU-JASMS Rondalla led by Maestro Noli DO. Castro (standing row, 3rd from left) and Ballet Manila, together with Ms. Bianca Camille Lopez, soprano (standing row, 7th from right) and the Director of the Days of Philippine Culture in Russia, Ms. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde (standing row, 5th from right) pose for a family photo at the end of their successful gala concert in Moscow with the Philippine Ambassador to Russia Carlos D. Sorreta (standing row, 4th from right) and Mme. Teelo Sorreta (standing row, 8th from right). Photo by S. Pamocol
10 October 2017 MOSCOW — Russians, Filipinos, and foreign expatriates in Moscow professed their amazement at the spectacle of the Gala Performance presented at the opening of the Days of Philippine Culture in Russia at the Russkaya Pesnya Theater in Moscow on September 27. Some 600-people filled the modern theater hall and many among the audience had their first experience of world-class Philippine artistes in a unique production for the stage.
Top-class performers from the Philippines came together to produce a unique and much-lauded concert program. The delegation of performers, chosen by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), included Ms. Bianca Camille Lopez, soprano and alumnus of the Philippine Madrigal Singers; acclaimed Philippine dance company, Ballet Manila led by CEO and Artistic Director, the Philippine prima ballerina, Ms. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde; and the award-winning Philippine Women’s University-Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (PWU-JASMS) Rondalla, led by Maestro Noli DO. Rodriguez. Ms. Macuja-Elizalde also served as the Director for the concert program of the Days of Philippine Culture in Russia.
The Days of Philippine Culture in Russia is jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (MinKultura) through their implementing organization, the Rosconcert Company, and NCCA in line with the 2014-2016 Executive Protocol on Cooperation between NCCA and MinKultura. The event, which aims to promote awareness and appreciation of Philippine culture, is in reciprocation to the Days of Russian Culture in the Philippines held last 20-23 October 2016. For 2017, the Days of Philippine Culture featured a one-day exhibition of Philippine textiles entitled, “Perfected by Tradition: Philippine Weaves,” a Gala Performance in Moscow on September 27, and a Concert in St. Petersburg on September 29.
The last Days of Philippine Culture in Russia were held in 2012. END
For more information, visit www.moscowpe.dfa.gov.ph.
More than 40 years of cultural cooperation between Philippines and Russia and still going strong. (In photo: State Secretary Deputy Minister Alexander Zhuravskiy of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation shakes hands with Philippine Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta after the two officials delivered their speeches at the ceremony to open the 2017 Days of Culture in Russia.)
Top photo: Members of the diplomatic community, Russian government officials, university students, members of the Filipino community and their Russian peers, as well as members of the Philippine Embassy in Moscow and their families and friends filled the Russkaya Pesnya Theater in Moscow to watch the Gala Performance of the Days of Philippine Culture in Russia. Bottom photo: Members of the Filipino Community in Moscow take the rare chance to snap selfies with Philippine prima ballerina, Ms. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde