Pugacheva, Bashmet, Ishkhanov, Nikitina, Vengerov and Bertman receive public awards at a gala evening at the Moscow Conservatory

President of the European Foundation for Support of Culture, Konstantin Ishkhanov, was awarded a medal in recognition of his ‘Contribution to Musical Culture’, with other awards recipients including famed pianist Boris Berezovsky, artistic director of the ‘Helikon-Opera’ musical theater company and People’s Artist of Russia award-winner Dmitry Bertman, head of the Musical Olympus foundation and composer and TV presenter Irina Nikitina and radio Orpheus host Yossi Tavor.

The awards ceremony was dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the birth of the composer, conductor and celebrated educator, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, and the 100th anniversary of the State Music Pedagogical Institute (GMPI) which is named after him. The presentation was held as part of a grand gala concert with many of the evening’s awards recipients performing in the event, including Maxim Vengerov (violin), Boris Andrianov (cello) and Philipp Kopachevsky (piano), whom together with the Moscow Youth Symphony Orchestra gave a magnificent performance of Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, conducted by Yuri Simonov.

Despite the reverent nature of the occasion there was an atmosphere of joie de vivre in the Hall, exemplified by a light-hearted moment which saw Yuri Bashmet operating Maxim Vengerov’s bow while the violinist performed in his ceremonial mantle with the Gaudeamus Orchestra. “I think we have proved that we can play indefinitely” commented Valery Vorona. When the presenters asked how Yuri Bashmet felt in an honorary robe, the musician replied modestly: "It's better to play", before correcting himself, “from the back, the mantle looks very beautiful, I keep thinking of what new concert clothes to try” Bashmet joked.

Conductor Yuri Bashmet and pianist Daniil Kramer joined Dmitry Bertman and other honored cultural figures in greeting the friends and graduates of Ippolitovka 

State Music and Pedagogical Institute onstage for the  presentation of the awards.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to go on this stage, because usually I am behind the scenes” - Dmitry Bertman, artistic director of the Moscow musical theater.

The rector of the GMPI, Honored Art Worker Valery Vorona, presented the robes of professors of the Institute named after M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov to Maxim Vengerov, Yuri Bashmet, People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Simonov, professor of the Paris Higher School of Music named after A. Corto Rene Shereshevskaya, People's Artist of the RSFSR Mikhail Voskresensky and People's Artist of the USSR, singer Alla Pugacheva.

“All these people, of course, have a lot of state awards, but it seems to me that a public award is something more. First of all, it expresses the love of society for these people, and in Russia, 70 percent of culture is still done on enthusiasts” said twice Grammy laureate violinist Maxim Vengerov about the winners of the honorary awards.

The Medal of Honor for Contribution to Musical Culture is one of the most prestigious awards established by the Russian Performing Arts Foundation, whose president is Valery Vorona, Rector of the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music Institute. The winners of the award in previous years counted amongst them celebrated patrons of the arts, cultural figures and representatives of the business community, including singer Iosif Kobzon, Soviet singer and composer Polad Bulbul oglu, co-chairman of the Russian-Italian Forum for Dialogue through Civil Societies Vladimir Dmitriev, vice-president of the Moscow International Oil Club Togrul Bagirov, rector of the Moscow Conservatory Alexander Sokolov, legendary director of the Great Hall of the Conservatory Vladimir Zakharov, deputy director general of the Spas TV channel Boris Kostenko, editor-in-chief of the Musical Review newspaper Andrei Ustinov and many others.