The opera Gala evening devoted to the five-year program of exchange of young gifted musicians from Russia and Italy took place in the Embassy of Moscow on February 29, 2016. During the Gala evening, the ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaldini handed the honorable award "“The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic”" to the founder of the museum Collection, David Iakobachvili, who has supported this musical traineeship project. The program started in 2014 – The Bolshoi Theatre had send several young performers to Milan Academy La Scala and Bel Canto Academy in Modena. Italian students — from the Neapolitan and Venetian conservatories - had arrived to the Bolshoi Theatre. Later young performers from St. Petersburg Mikhaylovsky Theater and Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre joined the program. David Iakobachvili shouldered the financial component of the program. The group of selected by special committee young performers, will be receiving annual scholarships within the framework of Cooperation agreement between La Scala Theater Academy and The Bolshoi Theater. The scholarship project will last for not less than 5 years with the possibility of renewal, depending on the received results, up to its termination in 2019.

Participants of the exchange program, those who has already graduated and students delighted the guests with the magnificent performance of the Italian musical classic works. Vasiliy Ladyuk (baritone) and Nina Minasyan (soprano) were the special guests of the evening. The singers from St. Petersburg Mikhaylovsky Theater, Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre and the Bolshoi Theatre youth program also took part in the concert program.

The detailed photo-report is presented in our Photo gallery:
http://collection-museum.com/en/gallery/list.php?section=679