International winter “Arts Square” Festival will be held in St. Petersburg December 14 – 24, this year - for the twentieth time. The audience will meet with the stars of the world performing arts, including conductors Yuri Temirkanov and Charles Dutoit, Yuri Bashmet and the "Moscow Soloists" Chamber Orchestra, vocal ensemble "Take 6", pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Elisso Virsaladze, Boris Berezovsky, violinists Joshua Bell, Sergej Krylov and other famous performers.

The Festival, founded by Yuri Temirkanov in 1999, brings together not only different types of arts but also its orbit traditionally draws cultural institutions located around the Arts Square that gave the name to the Festival. Among the participants: the Russian Museum, Mikhailovsky Theatre, Musical Comedy Theatre, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Church of the Savior on Blood). The main part of the program is held in halls of the D.D.Shostakovich Academic Philharmonia.

The Festival’s culmination points will be the first and final concerts, in which the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra will perform. On December 14 under the baton of the chief guest conductor Charles Dutoit the Orchestra will play Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture, Rachmaninoff Third Symphony and Grieg Piano Concerto with soloist Leif Ove Andsnes, “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight” (The New York Times).

On December 24 under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov the St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a program of works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Dvořák with the soloist Behzod Abduraimov, a young pianist who collaborates with the largest orchestras and conductors of the world.

The third concert of which the St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra at the Festival on December 20 will offer Brahms Third Symphony and Sibelius Violin Concerto, with the soloist Joshua Bell, famous American violinist, the conductor – National artist of Russia Nikolay Alexeev.

The "Arts Square" Festival will present to the Petersburg audience the first performance of a young Spanish violinist Maria Dueñas: named “a rising star” by the Violin Channel, winner of the I prize and Grand Prix of the Vladimir Spivakov II International Violin Competition in Ufa (2018), at the beginning of October she made her debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marek Janowski, also in this season her performance with the Oslo Philharmonic (conductor – Manfred Honeck) and a tour of Spain and Russia with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov are scheduled. On December 15 the violinist will perform with the St.Petersburg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vassily Sinaisky in St.Petersburg. On December 19 famous singer Veronika Dzhioeva will perform at the Grand Hall with Felix Korobov, Chief conductor of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre leading the St.Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the program includes Richard Strauss Four Last Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, as well as overtures, arias and symphonic excerpts from operas by Mozart, Verdi, Dvořák, Glinka.

Performances of Yuri Bashmet and the "Moscow Soloists" Chamber Orchestra will make remarkable events of The Festival: on December 22 they present a program of works from the classical and romantic eras, and on December 23, together with the Russian Museum, the "Parallel worlds of Russian Art" audiovisual project will be attended by National artist of Russia Nikolai Burov and violinist, winner of the XVI international Tchaikovsky Competition Sergey Dogadin. Along with music by Shostakovich, Sviridov, Weinberg, Ledenev and other composers that evening will feature poems by Akhmatova, Blok, Pasternak, Antokolsky, Tsvetaeva, Zabolotsky, Akhmadulina, images of paintings from the Russian Museum collection, created by Petrov-Vodkin, Filonov, Saryan, Aivazovsky, Chagall, Borisov-Musatov, Milloti, Golovin, Grigoriev, Rylov, Arefiev and other artists will be demonstrated.

Solo and chamber concerts make an integral part of the "Arts Square" Festival. On December 17 music of Grieg, Brahms, Schnittke and Stravinsky will be performed at the Grand Philharmonic Hall by violinist Sergej Krylov and pianist Boris Berezovsky, who was named "a true follower of the great Russian piano school" by Gramophone magazine.

On December 19 the chamber program will be presented at the Small Philharmonic Hall by violinist Sergey Dogadin, cellist Alexander Knyazev and pianist Plamena Mangova. On December 21 Elisso Virsaladze will perform a recital at the Grand Philharmonic Hall featuring music by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev.

This year the "non-academic" line of the Festival program will include a performance by the American vocal ensemble "Take 6" – "the most decorated a cappella ensemble in history", Ten Grammy Award winners and many other awards. They will perform the songs by The Beatles, Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton, Norah Jones, Al Jarrow from the “ICONIC” album, released in 2018, in St.Petersburg on December 16.

A bright Festival event, traditionally addressed to the entire family, will be the December 21 program: the audience will find a musical and literary composition based on the "The Snow Queen" fairy tale of G.H.Andersen accompanied by sand animation and drawing on the water in the Ebru technique. Famous actor Vladimir Koshevoy will take part in the project.

As part of the Festival program, the Mikhailovsky theatre will host a premiere of "La Bayadere" ballet choreographed by Nacho Duato, the Musical Comedy Theatre – "Merry Widow" operetta by Lehár, the St. Petersburg Concert Choir will perform a program of works by Bach, Gubaidulina, Sviridov and contemporary British composer John Tavener at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Church of the Savior on Blood), whereas the Russian Museum will present "Ilya Repin. To the 175th Anniversary of the Artist's Birthth birth anniversary" exhibition.