Dmitri Smirnov, Cambridge, 23 November 2019

It is with immense sadness that we bring you the news that the Russian-British composer Dmitri Smirnov died yesterday in Watford Hospital from the coronavirus, at the age of 71.

Many of you will remember Dmitri and his family from a number of beautiful concerts in Cambridge (including “The Splendour of Russian Music” last November) where his daughter Alissa Firsova played the piano and often performed musical pieces by her parents, Dmitri Smirnov and Elena Firsova.

Dmitri Smirnov

Dmitri was born in Minsk, studied in the Moscow Conservatoire, and lived in Britain since 1991, first in Cambridge, then in Keele, and later in St. Albans. He was fascinated by the poetry and art of William Blake and composed operas and an oratorio to Blake’s verses. He translated Lermontov and Mandelshtam into English, and Blake into Russian. Dmitri enjoyed to the full being immersed in the sounds and patterns of the surrounding world, and exploring its hidden layers and interconnections. He was a talented artist, poet and author, a deep thinker, and a very warm, kind and genuine person who would immediately make you feel at ease with a few gentle gestures and a modest and sunny smile. He

Edison Denisov, Elena Firsova, Dmitri Smirnov

was truly devoted to everyone and everything he loved – his family, friends, music, writing, learning about the mysteries of the Universe, and “seeing a world in a grain of sand” (Blake).

Dmitri Smirnov will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his family – Elena, Alissa and Philip.

From left to right: Philip Firsov, Dmitri Smirnov, Alissa Firsova with her former music teacher Tatiana Kantorovich, Elena Firsova.

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The successful candidate should be fluent in English and Russian, both in speaking and writing, have a minimum one year of experience working for a UK based company in office support, an administrative or customer service role within an office environment, be friendly, well organised and able to work collaboratively as part of a team.

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Dear Friends,

As 2018 draws to a close we would like to say a big thank you to our members, who have been supporting The Cambridge Russian-Speaking Society.

We would like to wish you a wonderful festive season.

May it be an enjoyable and inspiring time with your family and friends, which will lay the foundation for a prosperous new year.

Let the world be blessed with more empathy, sense and sensibility to enable everyone to live in peace and make the most of every day we are all granted on this planet.

Thank you for your continued support.
We look forward to seeing you in 2019!

This is a great opportunity to taste and take home traditional homemade delights from Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Lithuania and other countries:

• Famous Russian sweet and savoury pies pirogi, dumplings pelmeni, pancakes blini

• Organic home-baked bread made to an old recipe following an ancient Baltic tradition
• Organic kvass – a traditional nutritional drink made from rye bread
• Russian sweets from famous factories – Babayeva, Krasnyi Oktyabr

• Lithuanian natural raw honey

• Georgian snacks and sweets – khachapuri, pkhali, churchkhela
• Homemade cakes and sweets to surprise and delight the tastes of connoisseurs

Stalls offering a variety of souvenirs and local handcrafts:

• Silk and woollen shawls
• Paintings, patchwork, calligraphy cards, bath salts

• Wooden and crafted toys, books and slime for children

Take part in arts & crafts workshops run by professional artists:

• Wooden spoons decoration, £1 donation
• Batik scarf decoration, cost £15
• Doll-charm making, cost £3
• Birch manuscripts writing, cost £3

Also…

• Traditional Russian live music and dance performance
• Children’s entertainment including face painting, storytelling, slime workshop (£2) and games
• Charitable raffle, with a chance to win special prizes provided by the fair participants

Please come and bring with your friends and families to enjoy the day; learn new tastes, skills and traditions and meet new friends!

*** We look forward to seeing you at Cambridge CamRuSS Summer Fair ***

For more information please check CamRuSS Fair Page on FB or email us events@camruss.com

Parking: Free parking at Storey’s Field Community Centre, additional parking at nearby Sainsbury’s (1.5hr free) or 5 mins walk from Madingley P&R.

Saturday 26th May 2018, 5pm till 7pm

Venue: Cambridge Russian School at Long-Road Sixth-Form College, Long Rd, Cambridge CB2 8PX
Room: Drama Studio (Block A, next to the parking, upstairs from the Reception).
Map: https://camrusschool.org.uk/how-to-find-us/

Ample free parking.
Entrance: FREE
Language: Russian.
Everyone is very welcome!

Natalia Maeva is an acclaimed actress of Moscow New Drama Theatre who has been to Cambridge a few times and her performance of Russian poetry has deeply touched many a soul!

In the programme:

Poetry by Marina Tsvetaeva, Anna Akhmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, Osip Mandelshtam, together with perhaps less known but just as wonderful Titian Tabidze, Jurgis Baltrushaitis and Pavel Vassilyev.

The concert will be followed by a wine reception and light snacks.

Also, after the concert, Natalia Maeva will be signing copies of her book of memoirs “Evanescences” that she will kindly offer to the guests as a gift!

Link to this event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/196049697859122/

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Natalia Maeva graduated from The Vakhtangov Theatre Academy. Among her teachers, was the famous romantic actress Cecilia Mansurova. Maeva’s first performances as an actress were at the Moscow Comedy Theatre, where she played many roles from the Russian and international repertoire.  For nearly 25 years, Natalia has been working at the New Drama Theatre in Moscow. Among her roles were Tina in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Cécile de Volanges in “The Dangerous Liaisons” by  Pierre Choderlos de Laclos , Mother in “The Moscow Stories of Love and Marriage” (based on Alexander Ostrovsky’s plays “Tushino” and “Not of the Same Ilk!”), to name but a few. The latter performance was shown at the Sixth Theatre Festival in Marcel, France.

Her work in theatre was highly acclaimed by many critics. Her monodrama “The Human Voice” by Jean Cocteau was very warmly received in France, and a whole programme about the actress was broadcast on the International French Radio (RFI) in Paris in 2001.

Boris Lvov-Anokhin, a renowned Russian stage director, theatre critic and the leader of the New Drama Theatre in the 1990s, once commented on Natalia: “Maeva is a person, who is fully immersed in art; one who is always deeply moved by some performance, artist, book or music”.

In addition to acting, Natalia Maeva writes essays, memoirs and reviews. In 2006, Natalia published her book “Evanescences: Entries from an Actress’s Diary”.

She continues to perform, with many solo concerts in Russia and abroad, including her performances in the UK (in London, Oxford and Cambridge). We look forward to welcoming her in Cambridge yet again, on 26^th May 2018, and enjoying her powerful and heartfelt rendition of beautiful Russian poetry!