The world-renowned St Petersburg conductor Jevgeni Mravinski Memorial Festival has been organized by the Narva City Symphony Orchestra since 1995. Mravinski spent most of his summers in Narva and Narva-Jõesuu, and musicians from different countries flock once a year to the border town to pay tribute to the maestro.

"This year we have two symphonic and two chamber music programs and a very wide range of soloists from Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. There are also many anniversaries this year - Poulenc, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and each program includes works by these composers," Anatoli Štšura, conductor of the Narva Symphony Orchestra, explained.

This year marks 120 years since the birth of Jevgeni Mravinski. The Narva City Symphony Orchestra begins its 30th season.

In the festival's opening concert, Lithuanian pianist Gintaras Januševicius, who won the Chopin Competition in Narva as a young boy in 2002, performed with the Narva orchestra.

"It is both a frightening and emotional. I remember the seat I was in, and I can even see myself in the hallway. I would not be on stage today if it weren't for the city of Narva. It was the city that awarded the prize to me just as I needed to decide what to do next," Januševicius said.

Concerts of the Jevgeni Mravinski Music Festival will take place in October and November in the cities of Ida-Viru County and Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn. The festival will close with piano recitals by the young Ukrainian musician Mykhailo Diordiiev.

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