November 6th finally came after four months of planning and we met our visitors at O'Hare.
3
VISUAL ARTISTS, 4 MEMBERS OF A FOLKLORIC GROUP, AND A CLASSICAL DUO CAME FROM RUSSIA FOR A WEEK OF HOME STAY HOSPITALITY AND
A CHANCE TO SHARE THEIR TALENTS WITH OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. THE DELEGATION ALSO INCLUDED 8 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE MOSCOW
CLUB.
Zabava: A lively and entertaining folkloric group performed four times
and had the audiences on their feet and singing and dancing. Wearing colorful costumes and playing traditional and hand
made instruments, this family group was a real crowd pleaser. The performed at our opening party, at Holy Trinity Cathedral
and at DePaul and Northeastern Illinois Universities.
Galina and Anna Ostalskaya: Despite having
problems with their pianist's visa, Galina and her daughter Anna gave two magnificent concerts while in Chicago, performing
opera arias and classical lieder. With only an hour to rehearse with Luciano Laurentiu, a wonderful musician who is
Music Director at St. Benedict's, Galina and Anna moved an audience at Edgewater Presbyterian Church to tears for our opening
event. Later in the week they and Luciano gave a second recital at the lovely Cliff Dwellers club overlooking Millennium
Park followed by a wonderful dinner enjoyed by all the ambassadors, members of our chapter and Cliff Dwellers members.
Three
visual artists who will bring their own work and those of two other artists. Nina Soukhhovetskaya is a young award winning
painter who works in oil, Inna Portyanaya is an interior designer and photographer and Lada Anikina is an architectural
and graphic designer.
We are delighted that most of our venues
are booked for their free concerts and we have found a wonderful gallery space where we can host our Gala Welcome Party.
During
the rest of their time and for the other regular Moscow club members traveling with them we will plan a full week of exchange
activities with the emphasis on CULTURE AND THE ARTS. Museums, galleries, concerts, visits to arts programs in schools
and universities will round out the week.
A similar program was run in Washington DC and Atlanta
clubs in the past and they report it was a great success and gave them a chance to showcase what FF is all about to their
local communities.
Thanks to all who have volunteered for home hosting and day hosting.
See
the Page Moscow Events for all the details.
We have set up a separate website for
this exchange with all the details on venues etc.
