Music of Faith International Spiritual Music Festival takes place in Kazan

Today, on July 3, the third concert of the 2nd International Music Festival Music of Faith will be held in the Salikh Saidashev State Grand Concert Hall of the Republic of Tatarstan. The audience will be able to enjoy the organ music legacy of Christian Europe.

“German church organist Martin Hofmann, follower of J. S. Bach and winner of the International César Franck Competition in Toulouse, will be performing for the first time in Kazan,” shared the festival’s music director Lada Labzina. Hofmann actively performs in Germany, U.S. and other European countries. It is symbolic that this musician, invited to perform at Music of Faith's concert in Kazan, also leads a similar festival in Germany. Martin is the artistic director of the Festival of Spiritual Organ music in Hahnenklee.

The first part of the concert will feature music of the great cantor Johann Sebastian Bach, including the alto aria from St Matthew’s Passion, two chorale adaptations, Passacaglia in C Minor, Prelude and Fugue in A Minor.

The second part of the evening will present the organ and vocal music of various 19th and 20th century composers. These will include S. Frank’s Chorale, Pavel Chesnokov’s Let my Prayer Be Set, Chorale-improvisation Victimae Paschali by Charles Tournemire, Oleg Yanchenko’s Hail Mary, Mother of God! among others. According to the press office of the Salikh Saidashev State Grand Concert Hall, the concert will be presented by music expert Viktoria Shusharina.

The last performance of the 2nd International Spiritual Music Festival will be held on July 7 at the Kazan Kremlin. The closing ceremony will feature guest, Uzbek singer, Sevara.