From January 11 to February 13, 2026, Moscow will host the VII Winter International Art Festival under the artistic direction of People’s Artist of the USSR Yuri Bashmet.  A marathon of academic art will be held at six theater and concert venues in the capital.

This year’s festival program is very diverse: during the month, a kaleidoscope of events will be presented, from virtuoso chamber performances to grandiose musical and theatrical productions and world premieres, and among the participants are recognized masters of the stage, foreign guests from Spain and Italy, personally invited by the maestro and the festival management.

January 10-11

Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov

The play “Don’t leave your planet”

Konstantin Khabensky, Yuri Bashmet, “Moscow Soloists”

January 16

The premiere of the festival

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

Performance-concert “Reflections”

Yuri Bashmet, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Danila Kozlovsky, Evgeny Tkachuk, Nikita Vysotsky, Anastasia Skorik

New Russia State Symphony Orchestra

January 19th

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

P.I. Tchaikovsky opera “Iolanta”

“Iolanthe” in the author’s version by Yuri Bashmet is a combination of the best fragments from the opera and the author’s own monologues (thoughtful and piercing, sometimes passionate and tender) about the need to love, about the mission of Music in a world filled with noise and chaos.

January 24th

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

Yuri Bashmet’s Birthday Concert

January 27th

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Birthday Concert

Yuri Bashmet, Simone Kermes (soprano, Germany), Dmitry Masleev (piano), Fabrizio Meloni (clarinet, Italy), Moscow Soloists Chamber Ensemble

January 29th

Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov

Literary and musical evening “Love Stories”

Yuri Bashmet, Mikhail Porechenkov, Natalia Shvets, Kristina Babushkina, Igor Zolotovitsky, Nikolai Chindyakin, Moscow Soloists Chamber Ensemble

January 31st

MDT named after N.V. Gogol

The play “The Cathedral People. Pictures of Russian life”

Musical and dramatic performance based on the novel by Nikolai Leskov

February 2nd

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

Performance-concert “Poor people”

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s first novel will be performed in a new format of a concert performance performed by Evgeny Mironov, Yulia Khlynina and the Moscow Soloists Chamber Ensemble conducted by maestro Yuri Bashmet.

February 3rd

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

Baroque music concert “Endless Voices of Love”

The La Venexiana Ensemble invites listeners to immerse themselves in the magic of the Venetian Baroque of the 17th century with music by Claudio Monteverdi and Barbara Strozzi

February 4th

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

The Soul of Andalusia Concert

Original compositions of the Western classical school with bright Celtic motifs and incendiary flamenco rhythms, complemented by exquisite arrangements of works from the treasury of Sufi culture, will be performed by the Spanish ensemble “Al Firdaus”.

February 6-7

The premiere of the festival

Pyotr Fomenko’s Workshop Theater

The play “About love (5 pounds of love, 22 misfortunes, 33 tantrums)”

This performance is an attempt at dialogue with Chekhov, not with any particular play or story, but with his complex deep worldview, with his reflection on the eternal. Famous actors Karen Badalov, Natalia Kurdyubova, Polina Agureeva, Ilya Shakunov, Maxim Litovchenko and others will take part in the performance. As well as the Moscow Soloists Chamber ensemble conducted by Maestro Bashmet. The composer of the play is Valery Voronov.

February 8th

Maly Theatre

The play “Meek”

A fantastic story about the collapse of an ideal system based on the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky “The Meek”

February 10th

Moscow International House of Music

Performance-concert “When love came to you”

A touching story about first love will be performed in a unique format of a concert performance performed by Igor Kostolevsky and the Moscow Soloists Chamber ensemble conducted by Yuri Bashmet.

February 13th

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall

“A word about Igor’s regiment”

“The Tale of Boris and Gleb”

Concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Alexander Tchaikovsky

Official website: https://bmaf.ru/