Vadim Repin was born in 1971 in Novosibirsk. He began to play the violin at the age of 5 and went on to study with Zakhar Bron, a renowned violinist and teacher who taught privately in Novosibirsk at the time. At the age of 14, Repin made his international debut in Helsinki, Berlin, Munich and Tokyo. He has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic.
Repin came up with the idea of hosting an international arts festival in his hometown in the early 2010s. He wanted to create an event that would draw internationally renowned artists to Novosibirsk and introduce them to local audiences. The inaugural Trans-Siberian Art Festival was held in 2014. It was named after the Trans-Siberian Railway, the world’s longest railway line. Just like the Trans-Siberian Railway connects Moscow with the Russian Far East, the Trans-Siberian Art Festival is meant to connect Novosibirsk with the world art scene.
The festival features renowned Russian and international conductors, musicians, vocalists, dancers, composers, and other members of the worldwide art community. Since its inception, the Trans-Siberian Art Festival has welcomed participants from 20 countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The festival has a rich and extensive program comprising world and Russian premieres of new symphonic works, concerts, art exhibitions, film screenings, ballet, jazz evenings, and other events. The festival events are held at a number of venues, including the Arnold Kats State Concert Hall, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the House of Scientists in Akademgorodok, the Municipal Fine Arts Center, and several cultural centers and movie theatres.
Alongside the main event in Novosibirsk, the Trans-Siberian Art Festival hosts parallel events in Moscow and other Russian cities from Krasnoyarsk to Saint Petersburg, as well as abroad, for example, in Japan, South Korea, Belgium and Israel.
Photo: Mikhail Poleshchuk
