Libera in Moscow - January 2015

[Yorkie]

And for those that say music, religion and politics are all separate issues, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Which will not be for the first time.

LOL, well I'm still alive so I think I'll get over it

[Choirfan]

It's very tempting I must say, though would much prefer to visit Moscow in the Spring/Summer. Its been quite a few years since i was there.

Am currently stationed overseas so will not make the London concert as will be flying elsewhere that day. So the January concert would be great, as it has now been more than one year since I have seen Libera live...that's far too long in my book!

Checking easyjet flights from Gatwick to Moscow return, coming in around 60 pounds- bargain. the return flight to Ireland will probably cost me more. I need to look into this in more depth, cost of visas etc, it may be more trouble than its worth...but as i said at the outset, it's very tempting

[fan_de_LoK]

Checking easyjet flights from Gatwick to Moscow return, coming in around 60 pounds- bargain. the return flight to Ireland will probably cost me more.

The cheapest return flight Moscow-Gatwick, direct, is £11!! Wow, so cheap for a 3h30 long flight !!
About the hotels in Moscow there's some 3 and 4 stars at £50-£60 with excellent ratings.

Flying from Gatwick is very tempting, but as you Choirfan it would cost me much more for a Paris-Gatwick that the Gatwick-Moscow, and the schedules don't accord smoothly. So I will fly from Paris and it will be with Austrian Airlines

The Moscow concert has briefly appeared tonight on the Events page on the Libera official site. For some reason it was removed shortly after, but too late ! The Furby saw it and had the time to capture an image of the poster, thank you


It will surely be back online soon

[JimmyRiddle]

wow busy news day today! - these concerts are like buses you wait around ages for one and then.... (well you know the rest)..

Looks like you called this right FDL - well done, and to The Furby for capturing it. If they are being invited to sing as part of the Choral Festival maybe they won't have to dig too deep into their pockets for this one?

[SADASS]

Hello everyone. My name is Alex.
Who Do not know I'm an admin fan group in Russia - vk.com/liberafans
I would like to inform you that the official concert will be held.
The concert will be really in Moscow on 18 January. It will consist of two parts.
Tickets are available in electronic form, if you're going to go to Moscow.
Information about the concert will be shown on the site libera very soon.
The concert will be held at the invitation of the annual Christmas Festival (State).

You can ask any question, I will answer.

[alpha]

Libera's visit to Russia verbally confirmed at the Norwood concert. Alex "performed" his Russian concert welcome and introduction as part of the Norwood concert.

[alcesalcesobservator]

You can ask any question, I will answer.

Do you know if there will there be any TV performances, as in the Philippians and Japan? I'm guessing they will sing in Russian, and I'd really like to hear that.

[hiskeys]

I see that Libera's website has confirmed the Moscow concert. Hopefully, this will be a nice introduction to Libera for lots of new fans from a new geographic area.

http://www.libera.org.uk/news/premier_concert_in_moscow

Let's see, a song in Russian perhaps? Not too much time to learn it though.

[fan_de_LoK]

Now that the concert is officially announced by Libera, is there anyone willing to come ?

Despite the short announce time there's still numerous direct flights really cheap, London/Moscow Return in a range €50-€100
flights overview on Jetcost

The same with the hotels, there's plenty of 4 and 5 stars with good ratings that are available for $50-$80 per night
http://tinyurl.com/trivago-moscow

The visa procedure took me 10 days with the Russian embassy in France.
I guess this would be more or less the same from other countries. there's still enough time to apply for a visa.


About the concert tickets, the official libera site send us to the partner site ticketland.ru, but based on my experience it's unlikely anyone outside Russia would be able to order any ticket from there. To order a ticket you have to create an account. To create the account must must provide a valid email address that has to be checked by replying to an email they send, and you must provide a valid mobile phone that has to be checked by entering a code they send you by text.
The issue is that you never receive the text if you uses a foreign mobile phone. So no account, and no ticket.

The real good site to order tickets is by using the site of the venue, the Moscow International Performing Arts Center
--> http://www.mmdm.ru

Once on the site, you can switch the language to English with a link located in the upper right corner.
it's a bit tricky but on this site you can manage to create an account and then to order tickets for the Libera concert
--> http://www.mmdm.ru/afishaDescription/7941

This is the seating chart as it was 2 days ago :

The greyed seats are already reserved. There's still plenty of very good seats.

[tom413]

It's not feasible for me. The Russians have five consulate offices in the USA.
The one that serves me is in Seattle a mere 1998 miles away from my home.

There is no way I'd buy the flight or the hotels without the visa.

It's too bad because with more advance notice and a date when Moscow is a little
bit more pleasant to visit weather wise, I'd be interested.

Even with this notice, I bet there'll be a few travellers who will make their way to
Moscow.

[SADASS]

fan_de_LoK
You're going to Moscow for a concert? Where you will be sitting in the hall?
Who else will go to Moscow?

[Karppoo]

Even I live in neigtbour country to Russia, unfortunately, I have never been there. It would been nice to see Libera in Moscow, but that was yes too quickly (and visa from Finland will take over a week). If the concert would have been in St. Petersburg, It can reach by boat from Finland without a visa for a few days. But it is in Moscow. So must wait to Guildford...

[Yorkie]

Well, another concert over & another country added to the list. Thanks to Fan_de_LoK we have some info about who was there and what the set list was:

First the 22 boys on stage:
- Marc Alvares
- Shay Balsekar
- Ciaran Hickey-Bradbury
- Merlin Brouwer
- Gabriel Collins
- Thomas Delgado-Little
- Alex Gula
- Matthew Jansen
- Timothy Lee
- Isaac London
- Alessandro Botti-McKinnon
- Matthew Madine
- Michael Menezes
- Alex Montoro
- Jakub Niedermaier-Reed
- Cassius O'Connell-White
- Matthew Rangel-Alvares
- Bertie Smart
- Camden Stewart
- Rocco Tesei
- Sam Wiggin
- Lucas Wood

These are the same as in St John less two juniors James and Mark UR Menezes.

Note that there is no doubt now on the fact that Ben Fairman is no longer in the choir. His last appearance was back in Washington in August.

The set list was slightly changed from advertised in the programme:

- Joyful Joyful
- Joy to the World
- What child is this
- The Prayer
- Sanctus
- Voca me
- Wexford Carol
- Carol of the Bells
- Ave Maria
- How Shall I Sing That Majesty

Second part
- Conditor Alme Siderum
- Angels we-have Heard
- Away in a Manger
- Wayfaring Stranger
- Amazing Grace
- Gaudete
- Song of Life
- How Great Thou Art
- Silent Night
- In Dulci Jubilo

Encore:
- What a Wonderful World

He has done a brief write up about the songs on the French forum which you can find Here via Google Translate

[PaulWSpaceRockDodger]

I'm looking forward to fan reviews & Libera's own blogs on this first-ever concert by Libera in Russia. I hadn't realised that Libera already has fans in Russia, and presumably this concert will expand the choir's fan base in that country. Meanwhile many thanks to Fan_de_LoK for his detailed reports from Moscow!

Regarding the list of boys who went to Moscow, it's always interesting to see the evolving composition of Libera. Changing interests, new educational priorities, altered family circumstances, and health considerations are among the reasons that lead a few boys to drop out early from the choir. However, I suspect that years from now most of these drop-outs will look back on their brief Libera involvement as a positive experience. As for the larger number of boys who remain in the group over a longer period, the combination of growing up in Libera, honing their musical skills, performing internationally, and eventually acting as mentors for the newbies adds up to an amazing, life-transforming experience that helps build a solid foundation for adulthood. In this connection, my guess is that this winter trip to Moscow will be a special page in each Libera member's book of memories.

[JimmyRiddle]

According to the admin on vk.com they have received a request from Official Libera appealing for some of their members to remove the video's filmed and posted on the internet from Sunday's concert.