Historic Easter Friendship Concert in Moscow 🇷🇺🌍 | Russia & the West United Through Music | 2017

On 22 April 2017, I had the privilege of creating and organising one of the most extraordinary projects of my life — the Easter Friendship Concert in Moscow, bringing Russia and the West together through faith, culture and music. The concert took place inside Moscow’s magnificent Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary, one of the most important Roman Catholic churches in Russia. What makes this event especially personal to me is that it began entirely as my own idea. It was not a government initiative or an embassy project. I conceived it, organised it and financed it with my own money, motivated by a simple belief that music and faith could create a bridge between people when politics so often divided them. And by the grace of God, that personal idea became something far greater than I had ever imagined. Diplomats and representatives from major countries — including representatives of the United States and European nations — came together under the roof of the same church. Many attended independently, making the gathering itself an extraordinary moment of international friendship. For one evening in Moscow, people representing different countries, traditions and perspectives were simply together. The programme was deliberately international, with performances in Russian and English, bringing together Russian choral tradition and traditional Western Easter hymns. Special permission was obtained from Universal Music in Russia for music included in the programme. 🎼 Easter Friendship Concert 📅 22 April 2017 📍 Moscow, Russia ⛪ Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary 🎶 Russian and Western sacred and Easter music 🌍 An evening of international friendship and cultural exchange Looking back in 2026, almost a decade later, the evening carries an even deeper significance for me. Relations between Russia and the West have changed enormously since 2017. Yet this concert preserves the memory of a remarkable evening when representatives of different nations could gather peacefully in Moscow, beneath the roof of one church, and allow music to speak a language everyone could understand. There was no large institution behind my vision. I used my own resources, my own money and my own determination to make it happen. There were countless challenges involved in bringing such an ambitious international concert together, but somehow the doors opened. For that, I give thanks to God. By God's grace, something that began simply as an idea became a real concert, filled a cathedral with music, brought people from across the world together, and created a memory that has remained with me ever since. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment, and I am incredibly grateful that it happened. One church. Many nations. One evening. United through music. 🙏 To God be the glory. #EasterFriendshipConcert #Moscow #Russia #Russia2017 #Moscow2017 #RussiaAndTheWest #MusicUnites #CulturalDiplomacy #EasterConcert #SacredMusic #ChoralMusic #ChristianMusic #MoscowCathedral #InternationalFriendship #Faith #Easter #Choir #ПасхальныйКонцерт #ПасхальныйКонцертДружбы #Москва #Россия #Москва2017 #Россия2017 #РоссияИЗапад #МузыкаОбъединяет #КультурнаяДипломатия #МеждународнаяДружба #ДружбаНародов #ДуховнаяМузыка #ХороваяМузыка #Пасха #Вера #ХристианскаяМузыка #КатолическийСобор #СоборВМоскве #МузыкаБезГраниц #МирЧерезМузыку #СБожьейПомощью #Москва #Россия #Пасха #Moscow #Russia #Easter #music