Concerts of the Butman Orchestra were watched by millions of Chinese citizens

MOSCOW, May 28. More than 50 million people watched the broadcast of concerts of the Moscow Jazz Orchestra led by saxophonist, People's Artist of Russia Igor Butman, which took place in China on 25 and May 26, the team’s press service reported.
“On the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of May 2024, the world-famous Russian group, the Moscow Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Igor Butman, performed in China. The concerts were held as part of the Years of Culture of Russia and China in an open area near the Great Wall of China. They were attended by more than two thousand spectators, and The online broadcast was watched by more than 50 million people,” the statement said.

It is noted that the concert program consisted of two parts: at the beginning of the evening, the Butman Quintet performed at a site located on the Great Wall of China. “Our musicians became the first foreign artists in history to be invited to perform at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then the artists joined the orchestras, and the concert continued on an open-air stage, next to the Badaling Wall section in the suburbs of Beijing,” the press emphasized. service.

The musicians performed famous Russian works in jazz arrangements, Butman's original compositions and several Chinese songs prepared specifically for the upcoming concerts. The singer Fantine and the New Russia Symphony Orchestra also took part in the concerts.
“We have already been on tour in China several times, but such a warm welcome this time simply amazed our imagination. It was very honorable and exciting to perform on the Great Wall of China itself — an architectural monument that for the first time hosted foreign artists in our person. We We tried to demonstrate the entire spectrum of jazz and introduce all our instrumental soloists! And the wonderful Chinese audience appreciated it: they responded with equal enthusiasm to both the Chinese songs that we learned specifically for the tour, and to our domestic compositions, which we tried to perform together. with all our inherent energy and Russian passion, our Russian intonations,” said Butman, whose words are quoted by the press service.