09.10 Butman, Marsalis Highlight US-Russian Harmony at DC Gala
WASHINGTON, October 8 (By Maria Young for RIA Global) A glitzy gala at the Russian Embassy in Washington Monday night, featuring two of the biggest names in modern jazz, celebrated a long-standing but often forgotten history of friendship between the United States and Russia that flourished 150 years ago and could serve as a current model for both countries, said organizers.
We are celebrating the arrival of Russian warships to the ports of New York and San Francisco at the height of our civil war, a pivotal move in the war that understandably enhanced the morale of Union troops, said former US Rep. James Symington, chairman of the nonprofit American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation (ARCCF), at the organizations 2013 Friends in Time of War fete.
A performance by longtime friends, US jazz great Wynton Marsalis and virtuoso Russian musician Igor Butman, a highlight of the evening, was a demonstration of friendship Symington said, adding, Its a big world, but it needs diplomacy, and we believe music will bring the US and Russia together once again, because nothing is more powerful, and nothing is more needed.
Butman and Marsalis were both presented with the ARCCF Foundation Award shortly before a joint musical rendition that wowed the spectators and brought the black tie-and-sequin crowd to its feet repeatedly for standing ovations.
