On November 14, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets held a Plenary Session (General Meeting) of the Association of Winds Orchestras and the Valery Khalilov Winds Society of Winds and Percussion Instruments. The meeting took place in the State Academic Capella of Saint Petersburg. The event was held within the program of the "Music" Section of the VIII Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum.
The annual meeting of the Valery Khalilov Winds Society of Winds and Percussion Instruments, chaired by Olga Golodets, this year was dedicated to developing education programs for winds instruments and promotion of amateur creative collectives. During the event the Deputy Prime Minister suggested to introduce quotas for winds instruments performers in schools of music in Russia. She also asked the music community to become more actively involved in the process of supplying winds instruments to orchestras and various music establishments.
Much attention is being paid to developing and popularizing winds instruments performance, Olga Golodets said. "Training winds musicians is a fairly serious problem these days, so this year, for the first time in the history of Tchaikovsky International Competition, a new nomination has been introduced in two major programs: "Brass Winds" and "Wood Winds." The competition was superbly organized."
The participants summarized the results of the Winds Society's work within the framework of Culture National Project in 2019, and discussed the plans for the next year. Special attention was paid to preparing the creative project "Dedicated to the 75th Anniversary of the Great Victory..." in accordance with the plans for the Year of Memory and Glory announced by the President of the Russian Federation.
President of Valery Khalilov Winds Society Association Mikhail Bryzgalov says: "This year for the first time ever the plenary session of the Winds Society became international in scope. The event was attended by our colleagues from the Republic of Belarus, who plan to open the division of the Association in their country. We discussed the plans for joint events, including participation of Belarusian Children's Winds Orchestras in the Creative and Educational Shifts in Artek and Okean Children's Camps in 2020.
Speakers at the Plenary Session of the Valery Khalilov Winds Society Association of Winds and Percussion Instruments included renowned saxophonist Igor Butman, Vice Rector for Research in Zhiganov State Conservatory in Kazan Yuri Karpov, Director of Vereschagin Regional School of Arts and Folk Crafts in Cherepovets Svetlana Bobrova, Director of the Balakirev Children's School of Arts Olga Smirnova, Director of Okean All-Russian Children's Center Andrey Bazilevsky, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Archives of the Republic of Komi Sergey Yemelyanov, and Director of the Polenov State Russian House of Folklore Tamara Purtova.
