10 February 2022
On February 10th, the MGIMO Rector and сo-Chair of the Trianon Dialogue Anatoly Torkunov met with the Head of the Russian-French Musical Meetings in Toulouse and Director of the Toulouse Capitol National Orchestra Thierry D’Argoubet.
The parties discussed one of the key cultural projects of the Trianon Dialogue called the Russian-French Musical Meetings in Toulouse. Launched in 2019 with the support of the Trianon Dialogue and Emmanuel Macron, the festival has proved to be a unique example of cultural interaction between the two countries. The Art Director of the event is the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Bolshoi Theater Tugan Sokhiev. The festival stands out not only thanks to its music program, which includes the performances by the Bolshoi Theater orchestra, but also due to its informative educational events.
The meeting resulted in an agreement between Anatoly Torkunov and Thierry d’Argoubet concerning the substantial deepening of the festival’s program and the inclusion of youth agenda in the format of student exchanges, workshops, and discussions. The parties discussed further use of the Toulouse film library that has a unique archive of Russian movies. Another future area of work will be the participation of Russian drama troupes in the project.
There was also an agreement reached to hold a similar festival in Russia. With the support of Anatoly Torkunov, during his visit to Russia Thierry d’Argoubet discussed the Russian edition of the festival with the Director of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Urin, the Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre Tugan Sokhiev, the Rector of Moscow Conservatory Alexander Sokolov, and leaders of major Russian media.
The meeting and the talks were also attended by the Executive Secretary of the Trianon Dialogue Alexander Orlov, the Vice-Rector for Strategic Development – Chief of the Rector’s Office and Coordinator of the Trianon Dialogue Artem Malgin, and the Aide to the Rector and the Head of the Trianon Dialogue Secretariat Maria Ryabova.
