Press releases

13 Jun 2026

Third Slavianski Bazaar featured premiere of legendary Pesnyary hit

An archive photo

MINSK, 13 June (BelTA) – The premiere of the legendary hit Molitva (Prayer) by the ensemble Pesnyary took place at the third Slavianski Bazaar arts festival held in Vitebsk on 18-26 July 1994, musicologist Olga Brilon told BelTA.

During Slavianski Bazaar, a jubilee concert dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of the renowned Belarusian ensemble Pesnyary was held. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed his respect for the masters of Belarusian pop music in a congratulatory message. Many greetings also came from pop stars from different countries.

“The program was created jointly with the Belarusian State Chamber Choir and the State Folk Dance Ensemble Khoroshki. Stars of Soviet pop music, as well as veteran members of the ensemble, took part in the grand anniversary concert. At the beginning of the concert, Pesnyary presented their new program Voice of the Soul, which had no continuous storyline but featured several premieres. Among them were Red Rose, Christ Is Risen, and, certainly, Molitva,” Olga Brilon noted.

This song, composed by Oleg Molchan to the poetry of Yanka Kupala, became Pesnyary’s signature piece and a spiritual anthem of the Belarusian people.

Valentina Gekht, manager of the troupe of the Belarusian State Academic Honored Choreographic Ensemble Khoroshki, also took part in the concert. According to her, Valentina Gaevaya, who led the ensemble for 50 years, was a close friend of Vladimir Mulyavin, which is why the groups often performed together. “It was memorable, beautiful, interesting, and large-scale. It was a pleasure to work with Pesnyary. Later we also went to Moscow, where another solo concert dedicated to the 25th anniversary took place,” she recalled.

In 1994, Slavianski Bazaar brought together artists from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, the USA, Türkiye, and France. Eleven festival concerts were held at the Summer Amphitheater, ten at the Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theater, eight at the Disco Bazaar, and another eight on the stage set up at Freedom Square.

That year, the festival’s founders united to form the International Corporation Slavianski Bazaar, whose highest governing body became the Presidential Council.

For the first time, Days of Bulgarian and Polish Culture were held. On 21 July, a cultural cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Culture of Poland and the Ministry of Culture and Press of Belarus. Also for the first time, a creative meeting of folk ensembles from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine took place. At the gala concert Stars of Slavic Pop Music, the audience jury for the young performers’ competition was selected.

In addition, a monument to the famous Belarusian writer Vladimir Korotkevich was unveiled in Vitebsk. The Marc Chagall Museum hosted an exhibition dedicated to the first International Chagall Plein Air, and the Regional Museum of Local History opened an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from Nazi invaders, as well as an exhibition of works by artist Vladimir Shappo.