History of Music Bridges International,
Inc.
As part of the June 2004 St. Petersburg Musical Spring Festival, Yuval
Waldman, the Russian-American violinist and conductor, was asked to
play a program of new music by American and Russian composers at the
St. Petersburg Composers’ Union. The critically acclaimed concert
featured violin solos by American composers Stephen Perillo and Susan
Kander and Russia’s Grigori Korchmar, as well as string quartets
by Perillo and Andrei Petrov, which Waldman performed with members of
the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.
Waldman also conducted the orchestra in new works by Perillo and Murray
Hidary. The concert was accompanied by several educational events, including
a symposium on American and Russian music involving composers and performers
from both countries. Waldman
also delivered a lecture on American music at the St. Petersburg branch
of New York’s Bard College, collaborated on a new recording by
the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and even organized a photo exhibit of
Hidary’s work for the Nabokov Museum.
The following May, Waldman brought Russian and American musicians together
in New York, where they gave the New York premiere of the new Russian
and American pieces. The newspaper Cultural St. Petersburg published
an extensive interview with Waldman about these events and expressed
interest in partnering with Waldman on similar festivals.
St.
Petersburg (top)
Photos - (top center) Yuval Waldman and Susan Kander in St. Petersburg, 2004 (center left) Steve Perillo in St. Petersburg, June, 2004 (center right) Grigori Korchmar
Waldman,
who thinks of himself as a “musical missionary,” had long
hoped to start an organization that would bring the people of different
nations together through music. His experience in St. Petersburg provided
the template for the activities of Music Bridges International, which
was founded in 2005 to sponsor bilateral and multilateral international
music exchanges. Under Waldman’s leadership, Bridges sponsors bilateral
music festivals that feature concerts, educational events (lectures and
symposia), recordings, master classes and international student-faculty
exchanges, all in partnership with educational institutions and media.
Bridges events feature the works of composers from both countries, with
a particular emphasis on exposing audiences to new compositions.
Khazakstan
(top)
Yuval Waldman with Erulan Kanapyanov,
a prominant Kazakh composer
Yuval Waldman in a ceremonial Kazakh Costume, presented to him following a concert in Almaty
Izevsk(top)
N. Utkina, Executive Director
V. Balakin, Mayor Izevsk
Erosinya Yefmova, 12 yrs.old, from Yakutia
Tchaichovsky Homeland Competition
Yuval
Waldman with
Yo Chin Chang, Grand Prix Winner, South Korea
Rustem Monasypov, Kazan, Russia
Bridges has developed an ongoing relationship with the fledgling Tchaikovsky
Cultural Center in Izhevsk/Votkinsk, Russia (the composer’s birthplace).
It co-sponsored the first Tchaikovsky’s Homeland Youth Instrumental
Competition in November 2006. 45 young string players from nine countries
competed before an international jury of distinguished artists and teachers
from Russia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Germany, Israel and the United States.
In keeping with the Bridges model, the jury members gave master classes
and Waldman delivered a series of lectures at East European International
University in Izhevsk. He also presented recitals and conducted orchestral
and choral concerts in which Russian musicians, professional and amateur,
performed American musical masterpieces. Bridges also donated an extensive
library of chamber, vocal and orchestral music to the Center. It will
co-sponsor the next Youth Instrumental Competition in 2008.
Bridges continues to expand its activity to new countries. It is presently
negotiating exchanges with Switzerland, the Czech Republic, China and
Finland. Bridges is also co-sponsoring a proposed student exchange that
would bring students from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Old Dominion
University this summer.
