International Festival of Antique Music to Take Place in St. Petersburg, Sept 27 through October 12 - 23 September, 2002

The fifth international festival of antique music will take place in St. Petersburg from September 27 through October 12. According to St. Petersburg's Cultural Committee, the festival dates back to 1998 when it was first held on the tercentenary day of Emperor Peter's Great Mission to England then to become annual. The event is organised by Consulates General in and the cultural institutions of St. Petersburg jointly with the city's largest concert halls, the Russian Foundation for Antique Music, and the representative office of the European Commission in Russia.

The festival will open with a concert of Freeburg Baroque Orchestra at the Large Philharmonic Hall on September 27.

This year's festival will for the first time spread to St. Petersburg's suburbs. Concerts will take place in the Pavlovsk Palace and the Throne Hall of the Great Palace of Peterhof, where The Orchestra of Catherine the Great. baroque chamber ensemble will perform.

The programme will also include the love songs of 12th century troubadours, Christian Orthodox singing dating back to 17th century, and early classical musical works of the 18th century performed by world-class soloists and ensembles.

Leading European musicians, will hold their master classes on baroque violin, hobo, harpsichord and vocal music. Lawrence Libin, Margaret Murata, and Eduard Parmentier will read a cycle of lectures at the Vladimir Nabokov Museum. According to tradition, an almanac of articles by a number of leading researchers of antique music will be published.