The “BRICS Melody” international festival was held in Ulyanovsk. The event was attended by 50 performers of traditional music from eight countries of the group.

Visitors heard the sound of 25 instruments such as Indian sarangi, sitar and tabla, South African umahweyana, djembe, mbira, Arabic oud, Chinese guzheng, Ethiopian krar, Brazilian pandeiro, Iranian daf.

During the three days, the city hosted concerts, masterclasses and lectures on the culture and history of the BRICS countries. They were attended by musicians, art historians and ethnographers from Brazil, China, India, Iran, UAE, Russia and South Africa.

One of the central events of the festival was a case conference dedicated to the popularisation of traditional music and instruments among young people.

According to Natalia Aksenova, the author and head of the “BRICS Melody” project, colleagues from the countries of the association supported the music initiative and got involved in joint work.

“The issues of creating an association of performers of traditional musical instruments of the BRICS countries were raised. An important initiative that we managed to realise with young researchers within the project is the creation of the first book on traditional musical instruments of the BRICS countries,” she said.

The book will be translated into the languages of the BRICS countries and handed over to embassies and cultural centres.

For his part, Madish Parikh, founder and head of the BRICS Youth Alliance, Ambassador of the Directorate of the World Festival of Youth and Students (India), said that the festival provides an opportunity for the participants of the association to share their cultural heritage.

“India was represented at the music festival by Vanraj Shastri, a performer on the rare musical instrument sarangi. Only 40 people in the world play it. I am doubly pleased to see Russian musicians on stage, playing sitar and tabla with virtuosity. This is another opportunity for us to share our rich cultural heritage with the world, to preserve it and pass it on to the next generations,” said the representative of India.

Meanwhile, Mateus Pereira Jorge, Vice President of the Brazilian National Preparatory Committee of the World Youth Festival, considers the “BRICS Melody” as a platform for bringing peoples and cultures closer together.

“It is a living realisation of our dream of a future where young people from different countries join forces to make the world a better place. I believe that our international friendship club will be a source of inspiration for future generations,” he said.

The “BRICS Melody” project was created to preserve the musical heritage of the members of the association and strengthen the cultural dialogue between the group’s countries. The event was implemented by the Ulyanovsk regional organisation of the All-Russian Public Organisation “Russian Youth Union” with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.

Photo: Aleksander Yashin /
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