Around the Music Festival

The Russian Ministry of Justice announced on July 19 that it has designated pianist Evgeny Kissin as a “foreign agent,” which means that he is considered a foreign spy. According to the announcement, four other people, including a poet and a clergyman, were newly designated this time in addition to Kissin.

All of them were designated because they opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (special military operation in Russia) and participated in fundraising activities for the Ukrainian military.

In Russia, after 2022, designated citizens and organizations are required to report regularly to the Ministry of Justice not only on their work and expenditures, but also on all publications, including those on personal social networking sites.

Designated individuals are also prohibited from teaching, producing information products, sponsoring public events, and serving on election commissions.

Kissin was born in Moscow and is 52 years old. Born into a Jewish family, he attended the Gnessin School of Music, where he was a child prodigy, and at the age of 12 he performed with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitrij Kitajenko, where his performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto brought him to prominence. Since then, he has continued to perform internationally as one of the leading pianists of his generation.

He has been based abroad since the 1990s and moved to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, in 2016. In addition to Russia, he also holds British and Israeli citizenship.

He is one of the Russian-born artists most critical of Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, publishing a lengthy protest on social media shortly after the invasion, and also posting this past June, “Despite all the horrors the Russian invaders inflict on Ukraine, this wonderful country will survive.”

PHOTO：Czech Philharmonic　/　Galerie Rudolfinum