The festival was officially opened by the Deputy Director General of Gazprom Neft Alexander Dibalj and film director Emir Kusturica The goal of the Festival, founded by the renowned filmmaker Emir Kusturica, is to develop the cultural relations between Russia and Serbia and to support young talents from the Serbian music schools and academies. This year, the borders of the festival have been expanded and, for the first time, children from Russia will take part in the competition program. The competition program of the festival will feature works of classical and modern Russian and Serbian composers. More than 100 talented young musicians will be competing for the golden matryoshka doll - the festival's main prize. The jury for the competition is composed of eminent Serbian and Russian professors and musicians: professors Viktorija Matelinen and Zoran Komadina, and Miroslav Pavlović, the concertmaster of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. The guests of the "Bolsoi" festival will be enjoying a rich music and film program. The festival was opened by the laureate of numerous prestigious international competitions, the distinguished pianist Yuri Rozum. Performance of pianist Yuri Rozum during the first festival night Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulović will be also performing on the Drvengrad stage and he will be accompanied by the "Bolsoi" symphony orchestra, guided by conductor Srboljub Danić, the chief of the opera in Mexico City. The final chord of the festival will be the performance of the "Bolsoi" octet, which will perform the theme of Despić's tribute song for Mokranjac and Mendelson's retrospect to Aleksandr Medvedkin's film "Happiness". At the closure of the festival, the "No Smoking Orchestra" music group will create a pleasant atmosphere for all guests and participants.
