28 November, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Renowned musicians from Belarus, Russia, and Lithuania will gather for the XXIV International Ivan Sollertinsky Music Festival in Vitebsk, the artistic director of the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic, Nelly Matsaberidze, told a BELTA correspondent. This year, the event, important for classical music connoisseurs, will take place from December 3 to 22. The festival will open on December 3 with a traditional concert by teachers and best students of the Ivan Sollertinsky Vitebsk State Musical College, dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Ivan Sollertinsky's birth. December 10 and 11 will be landmark dates for classical music fans. On these days, the laureate of international competitions, Honoured Artist of Russia Alexander Knyazev, will perform in the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic hall. He will appear before the audience as a cellist and organist with the programme "J.S. Bach - "The Musical Bible," which includes the most significant works of this great composer. The cello he will perform with is also noteworthy, noted Nelly Matsaberidze. According to her, this musical instrument was made by Stradivari's pupil Carlo Bergonzi (1686-1747). Previously, this instrument was played for a long time by Grigory Piatigorsky and Sviatoslav Knushevitsky, and after the latter's death in 1963, no one played it: the cello was waiting for its performer, not yielding its sound to anyone. The long period of oblivion ended in 1987 with the meeting with Alexander Knyazev, who conquered the unique instrument and has been performing with it ever since. The festival programme also includes performances by the Ivan Stravinsky String Quartet (Russia) of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, the Lundström Trio soloists ensemble (Russia), the laureate of international competitions Igor Uryash (piano, Russia), the renowned soloist of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Ignas Misiura-Tumanov (bass-baritone, Lithuania) in tandem with accompanist Daiva Petrucionytė (piano), and the "Classic-Avant-garde" soloists ensemble (artistic director - Honoured Artist of Belarus Vladimir Baidov, Belarus).