On September 13, a unique concert, “Dedication to Moscow,” took place in Zaryadye Park as part of the “Cultural City” festival, organized by the Moscow Department of Culture as part of the “Territory of the Future. Moscow 2030” forum.

World-renowned Russian musicians and first-prize winners of the P.I. Tchaikovsky Competition—singer Albina Shagimuratova, pianist Boris Berezovsky, violinist Nikolai Sachenko, and cellist Alexander Ramm—performed on the main stage of the Grand Amphitheater alongside the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra, led by Maestro Yuri Bashmet, People’s Artist of the USSR, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation, and artistic director of the concert. The evening’s program included the immortal music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Renowned theater and film actors Konstantin Khabensky, Sergey Garmash, Polina Agureeva, Vasily Bochkarev, and Andrey Merzlikin read poetry and prose excerpts dedicated to Moscow.

The concert concluded with Tchaikovsky’s cantata “Moscow.” Bolshoi Theater soloist Igor Golovatenko (baritone) and opera singer Anna Yurkus (mezzo-soprano) performed this cantata, along with the Yurlov State Academic Choir under the direction of People’s Artist of Russia Gennady Dmitryak. It is highly symbolic that Tchaikovsky’s cantata “Moscow” was performed in the capital on City Day and served as a majestic conclusion to the festive concert in the Grand Amphitheater of Zaryadye Park.

The concert “Dedication to Moscow” is part of the large-scale project “The Journey of P.I. The Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, which maestro Yuri Bashmet has been implementing since 2022 with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives (PFCI). The project’s core idea is to hold special concerts in venues directly connected to the life and work of the great composer. In 2025, which marks the 185th anniversary of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s birth, the project demonstrates how the work of the great Russian composer and classical music remain relevant and contemporary today.

As is well known, Tchaikovsky was at the forefront of an entire creative movement in Russian music known as the “Moscow School of Composers.” A number of Moscow composers are commonly considered members of this school, including Sergei Taneyev, Vasily Kalinnikov, Alexander Arensky, and Nikolai Medtner. Tchaikovsky is a founding father of sorts, a movement whose influence can be felt even in the work of contemporary composers.

Tchaikovsky loved Moscow. According to Nikolai Kashkin, a friend of the composer, Tchaikovsky admired Moscow’s ancient monuments and the picturesque views of the Kremlin. He also longed for the city to be comfortable for all its residents, without exception. Just as it has become today. Tchaikovsky also said: “The beauty of life is not in traveling abroad year-round, but in having someone to love at home, someone to be interested in, someone to suffer for and rejoice over.” And it’s impossible to disagree with our great composer!

The concert was filmed and broadcast by the Rossiya Kultura television channel.