Sochi 2014 Cultural Program Culminates in Grand Finale
The Cultural Program of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is set to feature a host of masterpieces gathered within the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad. Participants and guests of the Games will have the opportunity to enjoy over 500 hours of performances from Russia’s notable music and dance groups including Chukchi throat singing, fiery Dagestan lezginka, melodic Kuban Cossack tunes and virtuoso alto improvisations of maestro Yuri Bashmet. Cultural events featuring more than 5,000 artists from 70 regions of Russia will take place at numerous venues across Sochi.
The schedule of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Program events will be available on the official website culture.sochi2014.com and via Sochi 2014 mobile application in the “Events” section[1].
A majority of the concerts and exhibitions will be free of charge for the guests, and events requiring tickets can be purchased at box offices in Sochi.
The Cultural program will reflect Russia’s cultural richness, and will be an outstanding finale of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad, whose audience over the past four years has consisted of over three million people. The program will include the best numbers that enriched the 2010-2013 Cultural Olympiad, as well as numerous performances by the finalists and winners of the all-Russian creative competitions that demonstrate the unique diversity of Russian culture to the whole world.
Events will be held at various locations around the Olympic Park, including the Medals Plaza, competition venues, concert halls of the Greater Sochi area, Olympic and Paralympic villages and Live Sites Sochi 2014 containing a large screen and stage.
The Cultural Program of the Games will demonstrate the diversity of the Russian culture, featuring highlights from the past four years of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad. Notable events will include performances by the State Academic Kuban Cossack Choir and the Dagestan “Lezghinka,” a gala concert of Russian ballet soloists and the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, and The Big Arts Festival featuring National Artist of Russia and Sochi 2014 Ambassador, Yuri Bashmet.
The festival marks the climax of the four-year Cultural Olympiad and guests will experience concerts and exhibitions, literary evenings and film screenings. World opera stars including Barbara Frittoli and Erwin Schrott, contemporary pianist, Denis Matsuev, and distinguished violinist and the People’s Artist of the USSR, Viktor Tretyakov will perform. Connoisseurs of classical music will further enjoy the music of flutist Massimo Merchelli, cellist Enrico Dindo and the German string “Kuss Quartet”.
Fans of classic opera will be entertained by a “night movie marathon” – 12 hours of opera films made with the participation of some of the greatest artists and conductors of the past century.
The gala concert will finish the Great Arts Festival with a performance by Russian conductor, violinist, and violist Yuri Bashmet.
The Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad is a unique project created by the organizers of the Games. Since 2010, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and dozens of Russian regions have carefully selected the best of Russian culture to put on display.
Between 2010 and 2014 thousands of different cultural events have been held across the country. Each year, the Cultural Olympiad is dedicated to a different art form: 2010 was the Year of the Cinema, 2011 — the Year of the Theater, 2012 — the Year of Music, and 2013 — the Year of the Museum.
As part of the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad, over 3,000 events have been staged in the past four years. Participation includes more than 100,000 performers from around the country. Over three million spectators have viewed the events.
Notable projects within the Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad were the Winter Festival of Arts by Yury Bashmet, the national inclusive children’s competition “Class Mira”, the “Russian Regions Marathon” project, the international festival by Yury Butman “Aquajazz. Sochi Jazz Festival”, the “Red Rocks” musical project, the “White Stick” festival, the national festival of modern theaters “ProTheater” and the “Olymp Texture” theater competition.
The all-Russian scale of the project enabled many people to get in this grand cultural celebration which preserves and increases the cultural wealth of our country. You can keep track of all the events in the Cultural Olympiad at www.culture.sochi2014.com
