For Christmas 2023, the European Demidoff Foundation were delighted to sponsor the journey from Genoa to Palermo for members of the choir of the Chiesa di San Giorgio to attend and perform at the following folklore festival: FOLK MARATHON PALERMO
It was at Chiesa di San Giorgio in Genoa where Padre Marian Selvini on 2 November 2023 had earlier officiated at the moving commemorative event for Aurora Pavlovna Demidoff. The religious service involved the participation of Inessa Abakumova, the head of the church’s choir.
Inessa’s report on the trip to Palermo is presented below:
"A musician's life is filled with festivals, public events, and masterclasses, where one can perform to improve skills, enrich the repertoire, and to make new friends and useful acquaintances.
This New Year, with Teodora Siberiani, we had a desire to go to Sicily, to Palermo, to present our Russian traditional, Christmas carols, because for us, Orthodox Christians, Christmas is still ahead of us. Unfortunately, we discovered that we lacked the necessary resources to make the journey from north to south. In addition, Teodora is still a student at the conservatory. However, to our good fortune we were helped by sponsors, friends of the Orthodox parish in Genoa, the European Demidoff Foundation. Thanks to the Foundation our trip was able to take place. Encouraged and inspired, we set off on our way.
Even the journey to Palermo was extraordinary: after sitting in the train carriage heading south, we boarded the ferry and sailed to Sicily. Once we got there, we were immediately immersed in the holiday atmosphere. We walked through the main streets of Palermo that was filled with songs and dancing. The people of Palermo were happy to see such a noisy invasion of musicians. After all, there were more than 200 musicians from more than 25 countries who took part in the ‘Folkmarathon’!
More than 50 master classes were planned and took place at the European Youth Centre (EPYC) for the members of the 'Folkmarathon'. Training sessions started at 10am and continued until late into the evening, seamlessly transitioning into scheduled and improvised concerts. Over the five days of the festival, there were Scandinavian, Kurdish, Polish dances, couple dances (Forrò), swing and salsa, polyphonic singing lessons, folk, medieval music lessons and voice practices. A kitchen, with traditional Sicilian dishes, at affordable prices, was organised for the convenience of the folklorists.
We Russians had the honour of taking part in the New Year's concert. We were the only two people representing Russia, so felt a great responsibility. The audience welcomed us very warmly, and we were delighted to add to the festivities with native Russian motifs performed by two sopranos. After all, are Christmas carols so common in Sicily?
It is definitely worth recalling the masterclasses that we attended individually and jointly. Most memorable were the masterclasses of Scottish and Indian folk songs. We could not remain indifferent to the passionate Neapolitan songs sung by speakers of this dialect. These all were moving sessions that will remain in our hearts and will give us strength to strive for new achievements in the musical field.
We return home tired but satisfied. The rousing dance music to which we danced along the streets of Palermo and in the spacious halls of the EPYC still resound in our ears. The fairy-tale city disappears in the distance, where under the music the peoples of different countries merged in one dance, where ancient folk tunes were taken up by everyone: Germans, French, English, we, Russians and many, many others..... Is it possible to have so many different dialects and languages to come together?
It turns out that it is possible: all together to sing one song and all together to dance one dance.
Thanks to folklore, thanks to Palermo, thanks to the organisers of this event and, of course, thanks to the European Demidoff Foundation, that made it possible for us to join this celebration of life."
