{"id":60879,"date":"2026-01-27T17:24:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T17:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=60879"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:33:11","slug":"another-music-roman-mints-s-new-festival-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/another-music-roman-mints-s-new-festival-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Music: Roman Mints\u2019s New Festival in London"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-london-cult. wp-block-embed-london-cult.\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"d6GNeJZJCk\"><a href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/roman-minz-restoring-justice-has-special-meaning-for-me\/\">Roman Mints: \u201cRestoring justice has special meaning for me\u201d<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Roman Mints: \u201cRestoring justice has special meaning for me\u201d&#8221; &#8212; London Cult.\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/roman-minz-restoring-justice-has-special-meaning-for-me\/embed\/#?secret=YHkAMMyTOo#?secret=d6GNeJZJCk\" data-secret=\"d6GNeJZJCk\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6617-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The new London festival ran over three days at St John\u2019s Waterloo. This year\u2019s theme was \u201cDisplaced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A painful and acutely contemporary subject \u2014 the lives of emigrants, refugees and displaced people \u2014 was reflected in the works included in the programme. Artistic director and violinist Roman Mints, like an architect, designed three chamber-music concerts that brought together works by both classical composers (Chopin, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov) and contemporary ones (Boris Filanovsky, Alexey Kurbatov, Leonid Desyatnikov, Elena Langer).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57.jpeg\" data-lbwps-width=\"774\" data-lbwps-height=\"1280\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-363x600.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"619\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"60855\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-619x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-619x1024.jpeg 619w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-363x600.jpeg 363w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-287x475.jpeg 287w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57-600x992.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.57.jpeg 774w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Kristina Blaumane by Eva Mints<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58.jpeg\" data-lbwps-width=\"870\" data-lbwps-height=\"1280\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-408x600.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"60857\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-696x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-696x1024.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-408x600.jpeg 408w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-323x475.jpeg 323w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58-600x883.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo_2026-01-27-23.14.58.jpeg 870w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Elly Suh by Eva Mints<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Roman Mints had already worked at St John\u2019s Waterloo \u2014 a church situated neatly between the Southbank Centre and the Old Vic theatre \u2014 in 2025, when he presented the WE ARE! Concert in Support of Ukraine there. Now he returned beneath the vaults of St John\u2019s with a new idea and a new programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The choice of venue proved almost ideal. Chamber music sounds here as if it were a private, intimate conversation with the listener, creating a sense of dialogue \u2014 one that is timeless, almost mystical. It is not an experience of detached contemplation, nor merely of listening, but of shared presence and empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60863\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6722-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This is not a repetition of the Moscow Return festival, which Mints curated for many years and which audiences loved so deeply. It is an entirely new festival \u2014 in a new city, with an artistic director who has gained new experience: personal, human, and professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another Music Festival is constructed with directorial precision. Over three days, musicians and listeners explored states of acute despair. They examined migration as a force that has always had the power to destroy, yet has just as persistently compelled composers to create. Exile was felt as a powerful imprint \u2014 and at the same time as a challenge and a stimulus (one would not wish such a stimulus on anyone, of course).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are states in which the loss of home and the attempt to be reborn, to put down new roots, become part of a creative \u2014 and musical \u2014 language, and thus a subject for reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6638-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It is extraordinarily difficult to comprehend what one is living through in the present moment. When emotion overwhelms philosophy, and acute grief makes analysis impossible, it becomes all the more important to turn to music \u2014 a wordless form of thought \u2014 and to share it with others in the hall. This creates the kind of communal experience necessary for survival, one that cannot be achieved by other means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first concert, \u201cBetween Loss and Belonging,\u201d addressed the sharpness of loss alongside the simultaneous search for new belonging. It was one of those strange moments when time becomes non-linear, when today\u2019s displaced people sense a kinship with Chopin, Stravinsky, George Enescu, and Paul Hindemith. The connection lies not in style or language, but in shared experience: forced migration, life between countries, exile. Music written in radically different historical periods revealed a single theme \u2014 the condition of a person deprived of a stable point of support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet when loss accumulates over decades, like barnacles on the hull of a ship, it loses its sharpness. On the one hand, it acquires a philosophical patina; on the other, it offers a strange consolation to today\u2019s displaced people. On stage that evening were violinists Roman Mints and Iryna Marchuk, pianists Katya Apekisheva, Vadym Kholodenko, and Maxym Artemenko, cellist Kristina Blaumane, and violist Mikhail Rudoy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6375-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The second evening, titled \u201cIn-Betweenness,\u201d explored the state of being \u201cbetween\u201d cultures and identities \u2014 that moment when one has leapt but not yet landed, and it is unclear whether one will land at all. Uncertainty, the search for balance, fear, hope \u2014 choose your own emphasis; all are valid. At the same time, the second day formed an arch from distant historical periods to the present, from baroque music to London premieres of contemporary works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pavana Dolorosa, written by Peter Philips, stands at the fracture point between artistic epochs: formally late Renaissance, yet already leaning toward early Baroque. Philips\u2019s own life was marked by a tragic loss of home \u2014 as a Catholic, he never returned to England. This piece was performed on the harpsichord by Richard Gowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elena Langer\u2019s Landscape with Three People \u2014 with the composer present in the hall \u2014 is music about parallel destinies, an eschatological tragedy of two lines that never meet. Hope is incorporeal: the invisible wall proves indestructible by human will. What we hear is the ancient Greek Ananke expressed in sound \u2014 necessity that leaves no room for choice.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6572-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Among the other musicians of the festival\u2019s second day were pianist Katya Apekisheva, violist Meghan Cassidy, violinists Natalia Lomeiko and Alexandra Raikhlina, cellists Ashok Klouda and Julia Morneweg, as well as two singers: soprano Hilary Cronin and countertenor Francis Gush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third concert, which concluded the festival, was titled \u201cHidden Voices.\u201d It brought together \u201chidden\u201d treasures \u2014 unjustly forgotten, rarely played, and seldom heard works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the musicians appearing on the third day were violinists Alexandra Raikhlina, Patrick Savage, and Elly Suh, pianists Sasha Grynyuk and Katya Apekisheva, violists Yuri Zhislin and Milena Simovic, and cellists Julia Morneweg and Rebecca Gilliver.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6712-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The festival programme observed, with almost pharmaceutical precision, a balance between experimentation and music accessible to a wider audience. The hall included not only highly experienced listeners, but also those still untrained in the demands of complex contemporary music. There was grace, and even a touch of irony \u2014 surprising as that may seem within such heavy and painful subject matter. In this sense, the festival also fulfilled an educational role for those just beginning to learn how to listen to contemporary classical music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One must also note the sensitivity of the audience. You know how applause sometimes breaks out between movements \u2014 at a comma rather than a full stop? Not once was there applause before the bows were fully lifted from the strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another Music Festival is more than a series of concerts. It is a new way of thinking about and experiencing music, bringing together both audiences and musicians \u2014 established, brilliant professionals and young students alike.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6808-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The festival concluded with Last Round, written in 1996 by Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. Tragic and incandescent, the music coils into a glass-hot spiral that repeatedly shatters into fragments. In its despair, it compels action \u2014 to live, to act, to continue. Dramaturgically exact, this final piece marked not a full stop, but a dash \u2014 between the first Another Music Festival and the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Another Music Festival ended, we spoke with its founder, Roman Mints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The festival ended on Friday. Today is Sunday. How does it feel?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m already working again \u2014 I don\u2019t even have time to analyse it properly. Artistically, everything certainly worked out. But I had no doubts about that, because I knew which musicians were involved. I have a very solid track record in that respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, everything went well in general. Today an article was published in The Observer, which for a first-time festival is considered an unheard-of success. We live in a city where a hundred concerts happen simultaneously every day, so even very good concerts don\u2019t always get press coverage. There are far fewer journalists than concerts. So it means that something in the programme, or in the idea of the festival, struck the journalist as interesting enough to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On the second day of the festival, composer Leonid Desyatnikov was in the audience\u2026<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t warn me that he was coming. He flew in \u0441\u043f\u0435\u0446\u0438\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e&nbsp;but kept it from me, thinking he could slip into the hall unnoticed. And at that exact moment I happened to step out into the foyer. Of course I was surprised and delighted, but the thing is \u2014 he\u2019s a very demanding composer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, this piece has already had a life of its own, so another performance is not as critical as it would be if it were a premiere. I only told the conductor that Desyatnikov was in the hall; I kept it from the rest of the musicians so as not to create unnecessary tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The festival included premieres by contemporary composers \u2014 the first performances of works by Boris Filanovsky and Alexey Kurbatov. Was it important for you that there were premieres?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At one point in Moscow, at Homecoming, we had the goal of commissioning new works specifically for the festival, but we almost never had the money for that. For a while we even ran a competition for the best score, but with competitions there\u2019s never a guarantee that even one good score will arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Another Music Festival, everything depended solely on my own desire. During the years when I wasn\u2019t organising festivals, I accumulated a lot of unperformed music. So it wasn\u2019t a goal in itself \u2014 it just happened that way. For example, Filanovsky\u2019s premiere didn\u2019t take place because of the pandemic. I think it sounded very interesting now.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60869\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6361-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>How do you feel about St John\u2019s Waterloo as a venue?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a good hall. I\u2019m happy with everything. And geographically, on the one hand, we\u2019re almost part of Southbank, but at the same time we\u2019re doing something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From a theatrical and dramaturgical point of view, the transitions between pieces looked almost cosmic.<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I met the stage manager, Shaun Bajnoczky, when I was doing the Concert in Support of Ukraine at St John\u2019s Waterloo a year ago. I was simply stunned \u2014 I\u2019ve never seen that level of work in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This guy arrives with a flight case. The first thing he does is go up to the orchestra and say: \u201cHello, I\u2019m your stage manager. If any of you need light for your stand, to charge a device, blocks for your chair \u2014 come to me, I have everything with me.\u201d He arrives at every rehearsal at two o\u2019clock, marks the floor with tape showing where each music stand goes for each piece. Five minutes before the next number he tells the musicians it\u2019s time to go on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I told everyone that when I decided to do the festival, the first person I called was Shaun Bajnoczky. I deeply respect people who do their job professionally. It\u2019s so rare. And the further we go, the rarer it becomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But not among musicians!<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It varies. I noticed that during rehearsals, the only people who were sometimes late were students. The adults arrived half an hour or fifteen minutes early. Students \u2014 not always. Life hasn\u2019t forced them yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The festival featured both established musicians and students. Did you know how it would feel for your students to perform?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope my students don\u2019t feel too nervous when we\u2019re on stage together. Of course, there is some anxiety \u2014 simply because they have much less experience. But you see, I don\u2019t even think in those terms: students or not students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the clarinettist Lily Payne is officially a student, but you can hear that she is already a fully formed musician. That\u2019s the only thing that has ever mattered to me. When I was their age, older colleagues took me into ensembles in exactly the same way and gave me experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Age is simply not a category for me when shaping a programme or a line-up \u2014 for a festival or for any concert. As for my own students with whom I played Bechara El-Khoury\u2019s piece, it\u2019s important to understand that all of these students are from Ukraine \u2014 and it\u2019s clear why they are here now (Iryna Marchuk, Sofiia Yavorska, Anna Nemchuk, Kateryna Kolosok, Sofi Lomidze).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427.jpg\" data-lbwps-width=\"8192\" data-lbwps-height=\"5464\" data-lbwps-srcsmall=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427-600x400.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5p0a6427-712x475.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by Anastasia Tikhonova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>My relationship with them goes beyond teaching; I try to help them in every possible way. And this was also paid work for them. And, very importantly, it was a chance to perform in the same concert with such musicians, to hear this music, and to go with me to the BBC before the festival \u2014 a very significant experience, playing live on the radio for the first time in their lives. I didn\u2019t have that opportunity at their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Were there any pitfalls in organising a festival in London?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main thing is enormous competition. You have to convince people that they should drop everything and come to you today. In Moscow, in the later years of Homecoming, people came because they trusted us. You didn\u2019t have to worry whether the Small Hall of the Conservatoire would sell out. But that took many years to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, of course, that audience still needs to be gathered and developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do you plan to make the festival annual?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we manage to raise the money \u2014 yes. It\u2019s difficult, but as it turns out, it\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<style>.featured-image img {object-position: center 30%;}<\/style>\n<p>Violinist Roman Mints founded Another Music Festival and successfully staged it in late January. This was the first event of its kind that Roman has organised in London (Moscow audiences may also remember his festival \u201cReturn\u201d). Here\u2019s how it went \u2014 and Roman\u2019s own take on Another Music Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":60878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"type_post":[184],"column":[185],"class_list":["post-60879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","column-letters-from-the-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60879"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62008,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60879\/revisions\/62008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60879"},{"taxonomy":"type_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_post?post=60879"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=60879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}