Siberian youth ensemble to perform at La Sierra University

The Virtuosos of Yakutia, a state youth ensemble, will play works ranging from baroque classical genre to show tunes in a performance on Wed., Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Troesh Conference Center of the Zapara School of Business.

Founded in 1994, the ensemble has given over 1,500 concerts in 15 European and Asian countries, including five times in France, twice in Italy and Israel, and also in the United Kingdom, Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Ukraine, China, Germany, Croatia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia.

The musicians serve as the state ensemble of violinists of the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, and are described as “the pride of Russian performance art.”

Sakha is a republic in far northeastern Russia, in northeastern Siberia, an area known for extreme climates. Yakutsk is its capital city.

The ensemble’s young violinists are the winners of four International Youth Competitions “Violin of the North” in Yakutsk, the open competitions of young violinists of Siberia in Novosibirsk, the International Youth Competition "New Names" in Moscow (2000 and 2008), international competitions in Cremona (Italy, 2004), Hungary (2005), France (2006), Italy (2007), the International Youth Competition "Tchaikovsky's Homeland" in Izhevsk (2006), All-Russian Delphic Games in Samara (2009) and the International Delphic Games in Yerevan (2010).

The ensemble arrives in the inland region as guests of Rotary International District 5330 to perform for the Rotary World Peace Conference 2016, Fri. and Sat., Jan. 15 and 16 at the Ontario Convention Center. They will be featured in the Peace Conference concert Saturday night, 8 p.m., with an opening performance by the Hollywood Youth Orchestra.

Rotary International District 5330 encompasses most of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and includes 60 different Rotary clubs. The Arlington Rotary Club in Riverside meets weekly at La Sierra University. The Virtuosos of Yakutia arrive at La Sierra through collaboration between the Rotary Club, the university’s Department of Music, and the Zapara School of Business.

Admission for the La Sierra University performance is free, with a suggested donation of $10. For further information call 951-785-2036 or email music@lasierra.edu. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.