FIVE GO TO RUSSIA

Video highlights of the some of the concerts....

It was a bit early when we left on our trip – 3.15 in the morning! Even the birds weren’t up yet. As we travelled across Snake Pass to Manchester Airport it started to snow. If this was England we wondered what it would be like in Russia.

None of us knew quite what to expect in Taganrog. Everyone had ‘googled’ it, so we knew all about Chekhov, and Peter the Great. Our first chance to have a proper look was on Saturday morning, when we had a walk around the town and visited a couple of the museums dedicated to Chekhov.

There wasn’t a lot of time to relax though, as by 4.00pm it was straight into the first concert at the Tchaikovsky Museum. The piano was one that Tchaikovsky himself used! It’s probably best not to mention who it was that bumped into it with their instrument. Fortunately it didn’t seem to affect the tuning of the piano, though.

Annabel Allison

Sunday was spent sightseeing and visiting some of the main museums, and by Monday we were ready for the rest of the concerts.

There were seven concerts in total, from the quite formal, at the Taganrog Art Gallery, in front of local press and television, to the informal such as the concert for student teachers of English, who then performed for us in return and joined us on a massed walk down by the sea.

By the end of the week, the William Appleby students were old hands at playing in front of TV cameras, video cameras, press cameras etc. The standard of playing certainly improved over the week, with such intensive performance practice.   Often the concerts were shared with local music students, and we were treated to performances of traditional music, song and dance on traditional instruments, which was wonderful to see and hear. We were welcomed warmly wherever we played. A couple of times we arrived at a venue to be met by students in national costume carrying an offering of bread and salt, a Russian custom to greet guests. We tried to think how we might give visitors in our own country a traditional greeting but struggled to come up with any ideas.

With local music students

The education system in Russia is very different from our own, so we couldn’t really compare like with like. Our own instrumental lessons tend to be about 20 minutes each week, whereas the Russian students often have a lesson every day, often of an hour in length. In Britain, we take for granted the fact that we have access to high quality musical instruments. This is not the case for the students in Taganrog. It certainly brought home to us how lucky we are to have the facilities and equipment that are available at our own Music Centre. What was noticeable, however, was the dedication of their students in the face of very difficult circumstances.

We took the opportunity to sample some of the local dishes, such as blinis, borsht and kasha. There was also a rather famous local cake shop that needed trying out a few times!

As well as becoming familiar with local culture and customs, we also learned a few words of Russian – if anyone ever needs to know the Russian for ‘tortoise’, just ask!

Hayley Head

Hannah Greening

Although the main objective of our trip to Russia was to perform, perhaps the biggest impression that every member of our party brought away with them, was the hospitality and kindness of everyone that we met.

We hope that two or three of the young musicians we met during our stay will be able to come to Doncaster this summer. It would be wonderful to see them again, and to give people the chance to hear them perform. However, the travel situation in Russia has changed drastically, and the cost of going abroad for them has recently doubled in price. So if anyone out there knows of any generous benefactors who might be willing to help, do let us know!

By the way, it was still snowing when we arrived back in Manchester. Some things never change!

Sami Alsindi

Hannah Brayford