Washington National Opera Interested in Expanding Contacts With Russia

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Washington National Opera (WNO) is interested in expanding cultural ties with Russia beyond its cooperation with the Bolshoi Theatre’s Young Artist Opera Program, the director of WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program told Sputnik at the Russian embassy in Washington, DC.

“We only have the Bolshoi for now, and we’ll see what happens in the future…we are interested in another possibility,” Michael Heaston said. “We are trying to be as international as we can but we are very heavily rooted with the Russian culture here, so that’s the focus.”

Young artists from the Bolshoi and Domingo-Cafritz programs gave a concert at the Russian Embassy on Monday night following a week of joint training. The US, Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese rising stars performed Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Mozart among others.

“I am ecstatic. This was so much fun, it was a big success, and it’s just a joy to bring our two groups together,” Heaston said after the performance.

The program director was echoed by the American opera singers who trained with the Bolshoi exchange artists for seven days.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for us to all come together and unite through music and art,” Daryl Freedman from WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program told Sputnik.

American soprano Kerriann Otano noted that the exchange program between the two cultural institutions of Russia and the United States is important not only for the sake of the art but also for the relations of the two countries.

“Getting this exchange program where we get to meet people and work with them to discover this music together, it’s so vital for the music to continue,” Otano told Sputnik. “Apart from that, as far as America and Russia go, these are the building blocks of great friendships that come from creativity and artists.”

Commenting on his impression from this year’s Russian exchange artists’ performance, Heaston underlined that the Bolshoi program is “one of the best in the world now.”

“Now we know who they [young artists] are. We want to keep track of them for future opportunities with us. And on a personal level, we want to keep track of them because we have all became friends,” he noted.

Monday’s concert marked the sixth anniversary of the collaboration between the Bolshoi Theatre and Washington National Opera, which is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Under the project, supported by both embassies in Moscow and Washington, DC, the two institutions have regular artist exchanges by alternating years.

In 2016, four musicians from the Bolshoi came to the US capital to train with American artists. Heaston confirmed that the WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz young artists will travel to Russia in the summer of 2017.