Tashkent welcomes friends

June 18, 2010

On June 18, Tashkent`s Istiqlol Palace played host to an International Music Festival “Melodies of Friends” dedicated to the 65th anniversary of victory in World War II. The performers included Lev Leshenko, VIA “Syabry” (Friends), Laima Vaykule, Anne Veski, Ion Suruchanu, Ani Lorak, Soso Pavliashvili, Mansur Toshmatov and Gulsanam Mamazoitova. The charitable concert was organized by the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Foundation with support from the Embassy of Russia in Uzbekistan, the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo, the Fund Forum and the Ministry of Culture and Sports Affairs of Uzbekistan.

Among those invited to the concert were representatives of governmental and public organizations, national cultural centers, creative circles, war veterans, teachers and students from the capital`s schools and journalists.

The Music Festival “Melodies of Friends” is a bright example of the development of cultural and humanitarian ties among the CIS countries. It gave itself the goal of helping to broaden and cement culture links, preserve music traditions, and popularize the cultures of CIS countries. The artistic director of the project is Lev Leshenko, a People`s Artist of Russia. The Festival has gone on tours of Ukraine and Tajikistan, and is expected to go to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and other CIS countries.

The project organizers are working actively to boost cultural and humanitarian cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding and friendship among nations. In 2004, the Fund Forum organized a festival of popular music with participation by Russian singers Katya Lel and Valeriy Meladze among others. In its turn, since 2007 the CIS Interstate Humanitarian Cooperation Foundation has launched programs to develop cultural and humanitarian cooperation among the CIS countries.