FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONTEST – CHILDREN’S ARTS FESTIVAL

«CHILDREN FOR A BETTER WORLD»

The best holidays are those that happen inside us.
Frederick Begbeder.
What is a holiday? First of all – these are emotions, impressions, joyful feelings that we look forward to, and then carry away in own hearts after the event is complete and those that remain in our winged soul for a long time. Such an unforgettable childhood holiday was held in the city of Zadar on the hospitable Croatian land. The festival is always the event for a participant of any age, and the children’s festival is twice as important, because there are no untalented children. Every child is gifted! And it’s not just words! … One of the tasks of our multi-genre festival-competition “Children for a better world!” is to identify the most gifted children and promising amateur dramatic groups. The festival was held by the International school “Integration XXI century” with the assistance of the International charity Fund of Vladimir Spivakov, the mayor’s office in Zadar (Croatia) and with the personal participation of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Croatia A.S. Asimov. 86 children from over 10 schools and 5 countries (Germany, Croatia, Russia, UK and Israel) had teamed up from different parts of the world through art. This holiday had lasted for three days, the celebration of childhood, which opened for a large audience a whole constellation of young talents in various fields of art: choreography, theater, vocal art, instrumental performance, visual art, artistic word. The Grand opening of the festival-contest “Children for a better world” was held by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Croatia Anvar Sarvarovich Azimov and the mayor of Zadar Mr. Dukic. In the opening ceremony famous artists from Croatia and Russia took part.
At the end of the holiday, children enjoyed a magnificent salute over the city of Zadar. The contest was opened with the nomination “Decorative, applied and fine arts”, where more than a hundred of children’s works were presented. In the lobby of the Lutaka theater, the beautiful exhibition of children’s creativity techniques was on: graphics, painting, stained glass, Russian folk crafts.
On that day, for the judgment of the jury and the audience some other of the following nominations were submitted: “Vocal”, “Instrumental performance” and “Theater” with the musical “Annie” and children’s play “Beauty and the Beast”. Participants from different countries demonstrated high quality of vocals, musicality, performance skills, artistic abilities. Behind the scenes of the theater of Lutaka and The Prince’s Executioner, the excitement of the children went off scale, tears of joy flowed and a sense of euphoria was in the air.
The Grand Prix (500 euros) was in unison awarded by a decision of the jury to Andrey Filonov, a graduate of the CMSch named after Glazunov from Russia, who impressed all listeners with his soulful playing on the piano, with impeccable instrumental technique. The 1st degree laureates were: — in the category” Vocal performance “- Anastasia Smirnova, a student of OANO MOSH “XXI Century Integration” and Yan Kharlamov (Israel), a pupil of the children’s school-Studio “Flowers of Israel” and Sofia Churin, a soloist of the ensemble “Malinka” (Croatia) — in the category “Instrumental performance”- Sofia Chomakhidze (piano), a student of the Academic musical college at MGK named after P. I. Tchaikovsky; Ilya Masharov (orchestral instruments, bassoon), student of the Central music school named after P.I. Tchaikovsky and Semen Solomatnikov (trumpet), a graduate of the Central music school named after P. I. Tchaikovsky – in the nomination “Theater” – performance ” Annie – the work of children of the international secondary school “XXI Century Integration”, Russia. The second day of the contest was no less bright and memorable. The following nominations were presented: “Choreography”, “Artistic word” and performance in English “Beauty and the Beast”. In the category” Choreography ” the 1st degree laureate prize was awarded to the choreographic ensemble of the Ballet school of Zadar (Croatia), under the direction of the honored choreographer Sania Petrovski.
The atmosphere in the theatre hall was really warm, sunny and full of smiles of the audience, of their enthusiastic, shining eyes from the meeting with real children’s creativity, sincere, but in many ways professional one. In the category” Choreography “the 1st degree Laureate was granted to Anastasia Polevaya, a student of the school “XXI Century Integration “, Russia. In the category “Artistic word” the winners were Ivan Dronov, Sofia Rabinovich and Vera Aldonina, students of the international school “XXI Century Integration “. Small artists presenting the play “Beauty and the Beast” took the second place. But there were no losers. Each participant of the festival received a diploma of the participant, memorable gifts and had good mood. In summarizing the results of the contest the jury noted that the festival had reached a high artistic and bright emotional level, which allowed to achieve the goal and fulfill the main objectives — to show the achievements of children in the field of arts, to make our life brighter and more interesting, to bring new colors in it and to meet friends from other countries, to improve self-assessment, to learn something new and, of course, to struggle for victory!
Master classes brought a special mood to the atmosphere of the competition program.
They were held by the members of the Jury: Grigory Gladkov — the Chairman of the jury, composer, Honoured art worker of the Russian Federation, member of the Union of composers and of the Union of cinematographers of Russia (Russia); Natalia Yurievna Vorobieva-Hrzic – a Soviet actress, writer and poet, member of the Union of writers of Russia and Croatia (Croatia); Ekaterina Pavlovna Messner – Professor of the interfaculty department of pianoforte at the Moscow Conservatory, soloist of the Moscow concert Philharmonic office (Russia); Maria Petrovna Nefedova – music Director and soloist of the Pokrovsky Ensemble, teacher of vocal-plastic (figurative) and speech techniques in Russia, the United States and Germany (Russia); Luko Paletak – Croatian writer, interpreter, academician of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and arts (Croatia), Pyotr Ilyich Gulko – Honored artist of Russia and Ukraine, Art Director of the international charity Foundation of Vladimir Spivakov, laureate of the UNESCO prize (Russia).
The colorful mosaic of the festival absorbed all the variety of genres – all the performances practically enchanted the audience! Bright fireworks of children’s creativity, which were presented by our festival to the city of Zadar, showed how talented children and professional mentors were there how it revealed all the fascinating abilities of every child.

Participants of the festival were not only preparing their performances and rehearsing at the music school of Zadar, but also had a great rest. Everyone remembers trips to Nino town and swimming in the warm, gentle Adriatic sea, riding jet skis and bananas, learning Croatian song and dance together, excursions to Zadar and its surroundings.
So, it would be highly desirable that the festival became an annual event, so that every summer we could meet on that beautiful, hospitable Croatian land and share our achievements, make friends, do joint projects, attend master classes of respected professionals-members of the jury and just had a great time and relax!
We express sincere thanks to the Director and producer of the festival “Children for a better world” – to Svetlana Sabirovna Kulichenko (Director of the international school “XXI Century Integration “) for a unique chance to participate in such a prestigious event, for the development of interethnic and international relations in the field of culture, for a great contribution to the aesthetic and humanitarian upbringing and education of children and youth!

We hope that the festival “Children for a better world” will become a good tradition and will develop year by year. Festival – to live! The festival should be! Good way! International Charity Fund of Vladimir Spivakov (since 1994)
Dear colleagues, dear friends! Your work at the International school “XXI Century Integration ” is a unique activity that has no analogues in modern Russian education. Not everyone and not always understands that the most valuable thing in a human, his personality, is being found in his early years. The administration of Your school really makes a lot for the development and formation of the unique features of every little human who enters Your educational institution. It is culture and art that provide the most fertile soil for the formation and development of all the best.
Only through creativity a person discovers, learns and creates something really valuable. “All forms are good except for the boring ones,” Meyerhold said. And we think that Your school is truly following that statement.
We believe that Your school and the students owe their great achievements to their wise administration and teaching staff, who have not only realized this truth, but also implemented it in the most successful way. For several decades, we have been watching with delight the vibrant activities of the school “XXI Century Integration”, where in addition to successful general education work, the incredible number of sparkling children’s talents appear, who perform classics, dance at a professional level, and incredibly sing. The international children’s contest-festival “Children for a better world”, being the quintessence of school life, has become not only a wonderful holiday for a huge number of people, but also a real event in the cultural life of Russia and Croatia.
Our admiration, delight and best wishes for new creative ideas, that conquer all of us, will become, we hope, the key to future triumph.
Yours Sincerely,
Vladimir Spivakov,
Catherine Shirman,
Peter Gulko.

Zadar , the Croatian city, is still under the impression of the recently held First International festival of children’s creativity ” Children for a better world» – and it admires the unexpectedly high professional level of its talented participants in all categories (pianoforte, solo, ensemble, orchestral instruments, artistic word, vocal, theatrical and decorative-applied arts), and it appreciates the unusual “adult” scale of the event, and the spectacular salute to honor the opening…

All the main city media released stories and articles devoted to the theme of that festival, initiative of which had been presented by the General producer and the soul of the festival, Svetlana Kulichenko, Director of the Moscow school ” XXI Century Integration” … and ahead there is a new pending event – the holiday of children’s creativity and imagination!

Maria Nefedova, the Music Director and the soloist of the Pokrovsky Ensemble, the member of the Union of theatrical workers, the teacher of vocal-speech and plastic (figurative) techniques, member of the jury of the festival “Children for a better world”
Dear Svetlana Sabirovna! The first thing I would like to say at once: this is a great victory: after all, in difficult conditions, in other country, the international festival was held for the first time, supported by the Russian Embassy, the mayor’s office of Zadar and other Croatian structures. I understand very well how much work has been done – and done not by a large concert organization specializing in festival and concert activities, but, in fact, by one person – even with the help of her own team. Therefore, first of all, I want to congratulate you! I also want to express my admiration of how you are able to communicate with people of different ranks and levels, how you keep in mind a huge amount of information, achieve results in diverse conditions, and not to miss anything down to the smallest details! Beside that, of course, there is one more, quite rarely met quality you have that I personally value very high on top of all others — generosity or magnanimity. It is given to few people. Thank you very much for everything!

Deputy Director of the Academic Musical College at the Moscow Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, Director of the ensemble of soloists “Premiere” Honored worker of culture of the Russian Federation Tamara Vasilievna Kazakova, member of the jury of the festival
Dear Svetlana Sabirovna! I heartily congratulate You on a great event and idea and an equally fascinating organization of the International Children’s Festival. The proverb: “The first pancake is always a flop” – is not about You! You have truly and perfectly baked out “Napoleon”, the most popular Russian cake, multi-layered and luxurious; and the nominations of the Festival are like those layers of the cake, glued together with an amazing cream of love and mutual understanding. Those are the gastronomic associations I suddenly had. But seriously, I sincerely congratulate you! The fact that I, as a member of the jury, was particularly impressed – was due to the elated-joyful atmosphere of all the festival days, the genuine delight thanks to which the children performed, and namely JOY. Without any doubt, this is the merit of the teachers of the school “XXI Century Integration”. Precisely it is achieved thanks to the teachers job, because for the lecturer you learn but as a teacher you are born. Thank you a lot for your pedagogical and organizational skills, for your talent to love, which You so generously bestow to people.

Deputy Soviet actress, writer and poet, member of the Union of writers of Russia and Croatia (Croatia), Natalia Vorobieva-Hrzic (Croatia)
What is our life? This is a series of events that follow each other. Sometimes it is pleasant, sometimes not. This year, my son Semyon and I were participants of the festival “Children for a better world”. This event divided our life into two parts: “before” and “after”, as that was our first trip abroad, passports, visas, tickets, customs offices. And there were always festival coordinators who helped us to pass that difficult way for the first time. And now everything is over and we are in Croatia, in Zadar, at the festival. Gentle warm sea, hot sun, and, of course, people. People, Yes, people, those who organized that Grand event, striking in its size, scale, colorfulness of programs and master classes for every nomination, exact compliance with the schedule. Many thanks to Svetlana Sabirovna and her tight-knit team of teachers for their work, for the execution of any request or wish. Love to children – that is what distinguishes every teacher participating in the festival. How quickly the time flies!!! And you understand it today, more than ever. When all is over: long-lasting rehearsals and bright contest performances and excitement of participants and parents, long and continuous applause and bursts of “Bravo” heard after every program performance at the Gala concert of children, such talented and bright, artistic and charming. Thank you for this festival, dear Svetlana Sabirovna, for that brightest event of our summer. Coins are thrown into the sea and wishes are made. We look forward to the next festival.

Tatiana Solomatnikov, mother of Semyon Solomatnikov, festival participant.
On July 16-20, 2019, the First international contest – festival of children and youth creativity “Children for a better world!” was held in Croatian city of Zadar. My son, Jan Kharlamov, was lucky enough to take part in that wonderful competition, and get the first-degree Laureate title (pop vocal). Many thanks for the invitation to that competition to the Executive Director of the International Charity Fund of Vladimir Spivakov, Ekaterina Romanovna Shirman and the Art Director of the International Charity Fund of Vladimir Spivakov, Peter Ilyich Gulko. The jury comprised well-known culture and art professionals, academicians, professors, associate professors of higher musical educational establishments in Russia and Europe. The Chairman of the jury was the famous composer and musician – Grigory Vasilyevich Gladkov. I would like to express my gratitude to the Director of the contest and of the school “XXI Century Integration “, Svetlana Kulichenko (Moscow), for arranging our arrival, for organizing the contest, and for the professional training education of her students. The program of the festival was intensive and interesting, the main characters of that program were the talented children and our jury. During the festival, the jury members arranged master classes and assessed the work of our children, teachers and parents. Let me express special thanks to our curator and supervisor, Kristina Viktorovna and her team, who was in touch with us for 24 hours, quickly and efficiently settled any issues. We were impressed by the level of that contest, by skill levels of children, their performance efficiency and discipline. I also admire the special warm atmosphere between children, parents and teachers. We parted with many participants of the festival as real friends and do hope to meet them at new contests!

Anna Vinokur, mother of Yan Kharlamov, a participant of the festival.
On July 16-19, 2019 on the Adriatic seacoast in the city of Zadar (Croatia) there was held the first International contest-festival of children and youth creativity “Children for a better world!”. Participants from Great Britain, Germany, and Israel came to the festival. Russia was represented by children from different cities: from Moscow to Omsk. The festival was attended by gracious hosts – Croatian art collectives. The participants of the festival lived on campus of the Zadar University in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere.
The organizers of the festival provided participants with the uniform – white T-shirts with the logo of the festival.
Awaiting for the beginning of the event was exciting and fun. The children got acquainted with the sights of Zadar city, history of which numbers many centuries. All participants of the festival were involved in a large-scale shooting, photos of which were distributed throughout the Zadar newspapers. The attitude of the festival organizers to the participants and guests was admirable. The most beautiful venues of the city were used for the festival and contest events – an open area in the historical center of Zadar Palača Cedulin, where the opening ceremony took place, and the concert hall of the art gallery Kneževa Palača, and the children’s drama theater Lutaka, which gathered in its walls the contestants not only in scenic arts, but also in the nomination “Decorative and applied arts”.


Competence and professionalism of the jury deserve respect. It should be said that the jury was presented by an international team of top professionals who were not only assessing the work and performances of participants, but also arranged practically useful presentations and exciting workshops, such as: the writer and translator Luka Paljetak together with the actress Natalia Vorobieva-Hrzic offered a lesson “When you only knew, out of what rubbish the verses are growing, one wishing the earth to swallow him”; there was also a master class provided by the Russian composer Grigory Gladkov “How to find your style, repertoire and image”, gentle and informative master-class of E. P. Messner – associate professor of Interfaculty Department of the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky; bright and fascinating master class of P. I. Gulko “Theatrical art”, master class of the head of the ensemble of D. Pokrovsky and M.P. Nefedova, called “Sound, rhythm and plastic art – are the basics of folk music”. In a special way, it is necessary to underline the importance of high rank guests who supported and attended the festival: the Russian Ambassador in Croatia A. S. Azimov, mayor of the city of Zadar Branco Dukic. Within all three days of the Festival, there was a feeling of kindness, openness and mutual understanding among the participants, teachers and the jury of the festival. The awards were distributed fairly and every participant received important professional guidance and wishes for success in future creative work that will be remembered many years. We express our gratitude and respect to the organizers, teachers and participants of the First International contest-festival of children and youth creativity “Children for a better world!”. We wish you success and look forward to new meetings on the shores of the Sunny and hospitable Adriatic sea.
August 2019, the Minustin family