Negative Stereotypes Should Be Broken Via Music - Russian Jazz Legend Igor Butman

Negative Stereotypes Should Be Broken Via Music - Russian Jazz Legend Igor Butman

Negative stereotyping should be broken via music and arts, Russian saxophone virtuoso Igor Butman told reporters before the concert at the Russian embassy in Washington DC

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2020) Negative stereotyping should be broken via music and arts, Russian saxophone virtuoso Igor Butman told reporters before the concert at the Russian embassy in Washington DC.

"We have our own stereotypes, negative stereotypes and we need to break them, we need to make people understand that Russians have their own pride and interests," Butman said on Monday, adding that it can be done through music and arts.

The musician added that people "need to work in every direction to understand and trust each other."

"And how can we achieve that? Through talking, through common interests," he concluded.

Butman's concert at the embassy was part of his US tour which started on January 30 with concerts in New York and will last through February 12. The orchestra will perform Baltimore, Miami, Chicago and Boston.

Moreover, Butman will give lectures about jazz, including at the Russian Cultural Center in Washington DC on Tuesday.

"We want to share what is going on in Russia, how it all began with jazz when this art became bourgeoisie," Butman explained. "We wanted to tell the story of Russian jazz and what's going on right now. That we have democracy in Russia, freedom of speech and freedom of art."

In New York the concerts were held at the Blue Note, in New York City, for four nights in a row, including on a Super Bowl night. Butman noted that the audience was comprised of people from different countries, including some Japanese, some Americans, and Russians among others.

"They all received our orchestra very very good, we posted on a Facebook a standing ovation, people really enjoyed what we did and to get four nights at the Blue Note, it means that you have a very good reputation... It's a big honor for any musician to perform four nights, two shows a day. So, basically, we sold about 1200 tickets. And especially this weekend it was a Super Bowl weekend, nobody goes anywhere but we were very happy," Butman said. "We played all different repertoire... I think we had four great nights, and people said that because of the excitement we played better than usual."

The Monday event was organized and held with the support of US philanthropist Susan Carmel founder of the Carmel Institute of Russian Culture and History at the American University in Washington, DC in 2011.

The representatives of foreign diplomatic missions, students, among others as well as the World War II veteran joined the concert. The guests received every piece of the program with applause while the concert concluded with a long-standing ovation.