23 September 2005

Andrey Gavrilov’s Charity Concert

     On September 28, 2005, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire will host a rare appearance in Moscow of the internationally renowned pianist Andrey Gavrilov. The concert, sponsored by the Gorbachev Foundation, will start at 7PM. The pianist will perform all Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin.
    Andrey Gavrilov was born in Moscow in 1955. In 1974, he was awarded first prize of the 5th International Tchaikovsky Competition. Before 1980 he gave performances in all major cultural capitals of the world. After he wrote a personal letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, asking to leave the country, he became the first performer to leave the Soviet Union without a political refugee status.
     The proceeds from the concert will be used to help children suffering from leukemia. Assistance to efforts in the area of treating childhood leukemia in Russia has been for years a priority charity project for the Gorbachev Foundation. The Foundation has been actively involved in activities of the Hematologists of the World for Children international association, set up under the Foundation’s patronage to promote research into and treatment of childhood leukemia and cancer in Russia. As its sponsor the Foundation collects and allocates funds and resources coming from the Foundation’s partners and from individuals both in the form of special-purpose monetary donations and medical equipment and medicines.
     The tickets can be bought at the Moscow Conservatoire’s box offices (13 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str.; tel: 229-7412, 229-8183).