St Sophia Cathedral organ in Polotsk to get first makeover

        The organ in the concert hall of Saint Sophia Cathedral of the Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve will receive its first upgrade. The work will be launched in January 2013.
The instrument was installed in the cathedral in 1985. The upgrade will include the replacement of some details and the keyboard.
        Partaking in the organ makeover will be Russian and Ukrainian specialists in cooperation with the German organ-building company Hessler. The works will be financed by the Culture Ministry of Belarus that plans to allocate Br1.5 billion for these purposes.
        The Polotsk organ is well-known outside Belarus. Over the last 17 years Saint Sophia Cathedral has been playing host to the international organ music festivals Zvany Safii (Sophia Bells) that welcome outstanding organ players from all over the world. Soloist of the concert hall of Saint Sophia Cathedral Ksenia Pogorelaya, who has been recently awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal, took part in the Days of Francysk Skaryna in Prague project organized by the Embassy of Belarus in the Czech Republic under the auspices of the Culture Ministry of Belarus and the Belarusian Union of Composers. The concert hall opened in the cathedral in 1983. Apart from organ music festivals, the concert hall designed for 304 seats hosts the International Festival of Ancient and Modern Chamber Music.