From April 25 to May 16, the XXIII Moscow Easter Festival will take place. For the first time in the new season, artists from the Bolshoi Theatre will participate, presenting a symphonic program of the joint symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theatres. The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will join the event on a large scale for the first time. The festival will maintain a tradition of extensive geography and rich programs: symphonic, choral, and bell ringing. The solemn opening of the XXIII Moscow Easter Festival will take place at the Moscow Concert Hall "Zaryadye" on May 5, on Bright Resurrection of Christ Sunday. On May 9, during the day, a public event will take place on Poklonnaya Hill—a symphonic concert under the direction of Valery Gergiev. In the evening, a gala concert will take place in the main hall of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the direction of Valery Gergiev, with Denis Matsuev as the soloist . In the new season of the choral program, 23 ensembles from Russia and Belarus will perform sacred music. Over 45 choral performances will take place in churches and concert venues in Moscow and nearby cities. A highlight of the choral program in the capital will also be the solemn gala concert, which will take place on May 12 at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. That evening, ensembles from St. Petersburg, Ufa, Minsk, Yakutsk, Grozny, and Moscow will perform for the audience. Within the bell-ringing program of the XXIII Moscow Easter Festival, dozens of bell music concerts will take place. This year, the program will include 23 churches in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Istra, Sergiev Posad, and Vologda. Public concerts of bell music will take place at the best historical and modern belfries and bell towers in Moscow and the surrounding area. Over 30 professional bell ringers will participate in the concerts. The festival is held with the support of the Government of Moscow, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, and with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Kirill.