A Space for Creativity

For the first time this year, the educational program of the Diaghilev Festival, which is partnered by Metafrax Chemicals, will be held at the Perm Regional Specialized Music School. The geography of the project has also expanded: graduates of the 2024 program will perform concerts in Cherdyn, Gubakha and Ocher of the Perm Territory.

The events of the Diaghilev Festival 2025 are taking place in Perm from June 13 to 22. Founded in 2003, the festival is one of the largest and most prestigious festivals in Russia, a notable phenomenon in the musical life of the whole world. The artistic director of the festival is Teodor Currentzis.

The Diaghilev Festival isn’t only about bright premieres and concert programs, but also a unique environment for the professional growth of young musicians. For 9 years now, the festival's educational program has provided performers, composers, and researchers with access to the global context of modern culture. A long-term partner of the program within the framework of the patronage and educational project "Women in Art" is Metafrax Chemicals, which is part of JSC Ruschem.

Maria Konovalova, Director of Strategic Communications at JSC Metafrax Chemicals:

“Metafrax has been supporting the educational program of the festival for many years. The educational and outreach areas in art are the focus of the company's patronage initiatives. The uniqueness of the Women in Art project is that it’s oriented towards women of rare professions in art. And every year, the results of its implementation exceed expectations.”

The educational program of the Diaghilev Festival 2025 includes the Beginning project, choral and vocal laboratories, as well as concerts and master classes of young musicians in the Perm Territory. The Beginning program is intended for teachers of music theory disciplines of the Perm Regional Specialized Music School, as well as their colleagues from music schools of the Perm Territory.

The vocal laboratory center will host a master class by the artistic director of the festival, Teodor Currentzis. Young singers will also enjoy master classes by Natalia Zagorinskaya, classes with Sofia Hill, Yiorgos Kaloudis and Antonina Sterina, aimed at exploring the relationship between body and voice.

The choral laboratory under the authority of Vitaly Polonsky is intended primarily for young chorus masters. The laboratory hosts master classes, workshops on vocals, body-oriented practices and foreign languages. The Youth Festival Choir is preparing the program for the final concert, which will be held on June 18 in the Great Hall of the Perm Regional Specialized Music School.

Thanks to the support of Metafrax Chemicals, the number of female voices in the Youth Festival Choir has been expanded, additional places have been provided for teachers from the Perm Territory at the Beginning program, and graduates of the Educational Program 2024 Diana Nosyreva, Valeria Ryzhova, Ksenia Nashatyreva, students of conservatories from Moscow and St. Petersburg, will perform concerts and conduct creative meetings in Cherdyn, Gubakha and Ocher of the Perm Territory.

The concert program "Summer Incident for two Sopranos and Piano" will feature arias, songs, romances and duets by W.A. Mozart, S. Rachmaninov, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, G. Mahler, G. Wolf, G. Faure, K. Debussy, J. Massenet and G. Donizetti. In Gubakha, the concert will take place on June 21 at the Y. Agafonov Children's Music School (50A Lenin Ave.). In Ocher, on June 23 at the Children's Art School (23 Sverdlov St.). The concerts start at 16:00. Admission is free.

This year, more than 500 applications were submitted from 70 cities of Russia, as well as from Armenia, Belarus, China, Spain, and Turkey to participate in the Educational Program of the festival, which is taking place for the ninth time. 82 people have been invited to participate in three areas of this year's program (vocal, choral laboratories and the Beginning program).

Since the program's launch, it has been coordinated by musicologist Anna Fefelova:

“I sincerely advise the guests of the festival not to miss our public events and pay attention to young musicians. It’s quite possible that next year their names will appear in the main program posters of the Diaghilev Festival.”