The International Festival of Church Music — Mighty God — is being hosted by Mogilev, from June 24th-28th, gathering around 1,000 participants. From the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant confessions, guests will enjoy a diverse programme of concerts and other cultural events.
The celebration launches on June 24th with a presentation of an album entitled Godly Music Sounds: 20 Years of the Mighty God Church Music Festival. On the same day, there will be a book exhibition devoted to religious themes, involving Mogilev libraries. The Moscow Virtuosos State Chamber Orchestra and Presidential Fund Talented Youth scholarship holders will be giving a concert, joined by young musicians supported by the Vladimir Spivakov Special Fund. Shows will take place over a four-day period, enabling Mogilev residents and guest to enjoy compositions performed by Americans, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Lithuanians and Italians.
The programme includes the 8th international scientific conference, entitled Mogilev’s History: Past and Present Family Traditions at the Heart of Spiritual-Moral Upbringing. In addition, there will be a bell ringing event and concerts by the Mogilev City Capella Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir, conducted by Venezuelan Herardo Estrada. The Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir, conducted by Vladimir Minin, is also sure to delight the audience, alongside Tajikistan’s People’s Artiste Oyat Sabzalieva, a Concertina ensemble from Moldova, and various organists and choirs.
The Mighty God: 20 years gala-concert, at the Ice Palace, will close the festival, as will a concert by Mirra — a group of Belarusian and Israeli performers — on Stars’ Square. It’s expected that representatives of 31 nationalities will take part: the same number of states have taken part over the entire 20 years of the festival. The international forum opens doors to many other festivals of church music — both in Belarus and abroad. However, Mighty God is perhaps the leader among these, truly promoting mutual understanding and co-operation between the Christian confessions. The first festival took place in July, 1993 — held at the initiative of Vladislav Blin, a prior of the Mogilev Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (now a bishop of Vitebsk). The festival took its name from the first line of Natalia Arsenieva’s Mighty God song (with music composed by Belarusian Nikolay Rovensky). The prayer is a true spiritual hymn for Belarusian Christians — being performed at many events.
