News and Announcements

 

 

 

 

The WCR e.V. will celebrate its 5th anniversary reception in January 2015.

We celebrate 5 years of existence and active work in the WCR e.V. – a balance sheet of over 200 events and many meetings among friends. Here is a chance to take a peek at upcoming highlights and new encounters…

The WCR invites you to the anniversary party at a New Year’s reception.

Venue: Swissotel Krasnye Kholmy,

Kosmodamianskaya nab. 52, bld. 6, Moscow,

Tuesday 27th of January 2015

Start: 19:00

19:30 welcome, guests, reception

20:00 artists congratulate the WCR

20.30 buffet and networking -”Dialogue promotes confidence”

Registration fee: 1500 roubles, members free admission

Registration at: www.wirtschaftsclubrussland.org join “5 years of WCR”

 

Antal’s 20 Year Anniversary

Antal Russia, a British mid-to-senior level executive recruitment company is proud to celebrate its 20th anniversary! Currently employing over 100 staff in its Moscow office, Antal Russia has had a continuous presence in the Russian capital since opening its doors in 1994 and has recently opened an office in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan (this is in addition to two offices in Kazakhstan – in Almaty & Astana). As was to be expected, the celebrations were lively, and here’s to the next twenty years of success!

 

Alcoholics Anonymous

If you have a problem with alcohol and you are in Moscow, other alcoholics who are sober meet every evening in the basement of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on Voznezensky Pereulok, opposite the Marriott Courtyard hotel. Monday-Friday 19.30, Saturday 17.00 and Sunday 18.00. All meetings are conducted in English. We would be pleased to see you. Moscowfellowship@hotmail.com / Steve +79852117140

A NEW BELL FOR MOSCOW
The 1st of September saw the arrival of a new school bell for a new English International School near Prospekt Vernadskogo. Moscow South-West’s oldest student, Sofia in Year 6, rang the First Bell as parents, students and staff assembled in the school for the first time. This was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony before everyone went to their brand new classrooms. Soon after opening its third school in the South West of Moscow the Chairman of Orbital Education, Mr Kevin McNeany, said “What a delight to visit our wonderful new school. I can see that already it is a place of happiness.”

 

English Language Evenings
English Language Evenings is an independent, open, public English-language lecture forum in Moscow, having hosted more than 240 meetings and ~200 different speakers since starting in 1998. Among the PURPOSES of ELE is the providing of intelligent-intellectual evenings in Moscow in English, the presentation of a wide variety of topics and speakers, and the promotion of more personal contacts between the speakers and Russians in Moscow. The lectures cost 100 roubles to attend.
Lectures in December, January and February will take place either in the meeting hall of the Chekhov Cultural Center, or the ‘reading room’ of the Chekhov Library; the entrance is from Strastnoi Bulvar 8. The final location will be announced later.
Check: http://www.elemoscow.net/index.html

 

“How to Become a Prime Minister or CEO!”
Dr. Sam Potolicchio — Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Global Leadership Studies at the Russian Presidential Academy for National Economy and Public Administration, Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University, USA, and President of Preparing Global Leaders Foundation, Moscow, Skopje, and Amman.
January 16, 2015

“Becoming an Adventurer: What Does It Take to Become an adventurer? “
Galya Morrell – Russian-American performance and multimedia artist, reporter and photographer, co-founder of Expedition Avannaa and Ole Jorgen Hammeken – Greenlandic polar explorer, educator, author and actor actor and co-founder of Expedition Avannaa.
January 30, 2015

“English: Whose Language Is It Anyway?”
Philil Gill, EL teacher and language consultant
February 13, 2015

“The Soviet-American Sail of 1989: Remembering the Adventures and Lessons of that Atlantic Ocean Journey 25 Years Later”
Mary Shea, recent alumni program manager of Eurasia FLEX.
February 27, 2015

Ken Hensley 2014 tour – Moscow, St Petersburg and 20+ more Russian cities in November
American and British rock music was loved by many in the USSR; back then, though, the heroes of that music lived only on vinyl records and tape reels, and on pages of ‘Studenchesky Meridian’ and ‘Rovesnik’ magazines. Ken Hensley, known here as songwriter and keyboard player for ‘Uriah Heep’, was one such hero. Times have changed, and now he often visits former USSR counties. He’s worked with Russian musicians to record and perform, and has been to more cities than any average local (or an expat keen on seeing as much as possible while living and working in a different country! By the way – Hensley himself is also an expat, living in Spain). His 2014 tour brought him to Russia on November 11. Starting in Bryansk, his Russian tour included 23 cities, such as Smolensk, Saint Petersburg, Tver, Kaluga, Saratov, Omsk, Novosibirsk, and, of course, Moscow, where he played November 27 in the Театр Club. Hensley is not just an experienced musician who spent over 40 years making music history with the world’s legendary hard-rock bands. He is a poet, who learnt to play instruments only to turn his poetry into songs, and a Christian who lives to shine the light of God’s love everywhere he goes. From the stage, he shares his heart. This is what makes his concerts a very special experience.

To see if he’s playing in your city (or the city you happen to be travelling to, exploring Russia) visit www.ken-hensley.com/tour.html

Deutsche Gruppe Moskau’s First Anniversary

Deutsche Gruppe Moskau
In October the ‘Deutsche Gruppe Moskau’ (German Group Moscow) celebrated it’s first anniversary with a lovely event at the InterContinental Hotel Moscow last week.

The group was founded in October last year has now reached more than 100 members from10 different countries. A logo has been designed and the website was launched. Everyone that speaks German is happy to join us, We meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 10.00am-12.00pm at the InterContinental Moscow Tverskaya. We organize many different events and tours that you can find on our web-side calendar.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Susanne van Alphen, e-mail: info@deutschegruppemoskau.com

or visit our web-side at www.deutschegruppemoskau.com

 

FREE JIVE DANCE CLASSES IN MOSCOW !
Beginners’ classes every Saturday held in English and Russian at the The Esse Jazz Cafés and other venues.

Not essential to come with a partner. For more information contact Richard at richardhume.hume@gmail.com or phone +7 903 558 71 35.
Co-op Jive – www.coopjive.co.uk

 

TO PLAY IS TO BE
Uxmal records, Mexico, releases ‘Dreams are Toyz’ by The Theatre of Love, Moscow. November 24, 2014 Genre: Electronic melodeclamation.

What’s ‘The Theatre of Love?’ As they themselves say, quoting Byron – ‘All that’s best of dark and bright.’

‘To play is to be’, wrote Schiller. And ‘to stop playing is to stop being,’ explains Martin Cooke, and goes on to talk about Shakespeare’s ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ where tragedy and humor go hand in hand. ‘Our mission of incommensurability is to remember that we try to do it for fun,’ states Martin. What’s fun? ‘Fun is playing. Playing Shakespeare with disco music to see what happens,’ and not only Shakespeare. The suicidal youth Thomas Chatterton, the mysterious Edgar Alan Poe, the ‘lively poet’ Thomas Hood… For over two years, Martin Cooke, deep poet and magnetic performer, together with electronic wizard Sergey Bondarenko and guitarist Anton Salikov – with friends (musicians and artists) – have been pouring the words of classical, and Martin’s own, poetry into the ever-changing form of their own making they named electronic melodeclamation. ‘Our album is – well, dark,’ Sergey told me. And later, leaving the venue – a dimly lit room of a tea-house – after a recent concert, I heard someone from the audience tell Martin, ‘there’s a sense of light about your music.’ The interplay of dark and bright. The fun.

Upcoming shows: Donnie’s Bar, December 6, 7:30 pm, Masterskaya, December 17, 8 p.m.
For more information and tickets, visit https://www.facebook.com/TheTheatreOfLove

The Holiday Season at St. Andrews in December/January

Carol Service
Dec. 14. 6:30pm
Please join us for our annual service of Lessons and Carols.
Christmas Services

Christmas Bazaar
Dec. 6.
1:00pm-4:00pm
Visit our traditional English Christmas Bazaar and stock up on some great gifts for the holidays.

We’ll also have master classes for kids and adults and snacks! Find out more on our Facebook event page.

Christmas Pageant
Dec. 14. 3:00pm
The children of St. Andrews and the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy will join together to put on a Christmas play.

Dec. 24. 4:00pm –
Family service with
Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy
11:15pm – Midnight Mass
Dec. 25 8:30am –
Holy Communion
11:00 am – Family service

Chaplain’s Open House
Dec. 26 7:00pm
Bring a holiday dish to share for this festive gathering with the St. Andrew’s family

Epiphany
Jan. 4. Regular services at 8:30 and 11am

 

4.3 million roubles raised for CCP at Action Group’s fourth annual charity auction

This year the event raised 4.3 million roubles, which will pay for individual and group therapy and specialized pre-school programmes for the children of CCP. Since its foundation in 1989, leading Moscow children’s charity CCP has improved the lives of over 15,000 families with children with special needs.

290 guests gathered for the event and were treated to an exhibition of photos of CCP by Oleg Singareev, live music by VIA Tatiana and a striking new film about CCP by Alexei Platonov and Andrei Loshak entitled ‘Vera’.

Auction lots included an all-expenses paid trip to the 2015 World Hockey Championships in Prague and dinner at home with the Chef de Cuisine from the Ritz-Carlton. The live and silent auctions, lottery, CCP shop and ticket sales raised a phenomenal total 4.3 millon roubles. The ball was organised by Action Group marketing agency and held in Design Zavod Flacon. The event was made possible thanks to generous sponsorship from Action Group, Svyaznoy, Unicredit Bank, Heineken, Original in Berlin and Flacon.

For more information about CCP, please see their web site: www.ccp.org.ru.
If you would like to support future Action charity events for CCP then contact Michael Green on 89670591172 or mgreen@msk.action.ru

 

Diplomatic

Hand-written Batik and Hand-woven Tanimbarese Fabric in Moscow

‘Batik’, is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to cloth. Although a tradition of making batik is found in various countries, the batik of Indonesia, is the most well-known. In October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The embassy of Indonesia in Moscow in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia held workshops on hand-written Batik and hand-woven Tanimbarese Fabric on 3-4 June 2014, at the Residence of the Ambassador of Indonesia in Moscow.
Two Indonesian women artists with expertise in creating traditional batik and woven Tanimbarese fabric; Ms. Venny Afwani (Alam Batik House) and Ms. Thermutis Malis demonstrated techniques of how to create hand-written Batik and woven Tanimbarese fabric. These events were successful and were much appreciated judging by the tremendous, response from the Diplomatic Corps in Moscow, the Friends of Indonesia, International Woman Associations, International Students and others who participated at the workshops.

“Indonesia is well known for Batik, and it’s time for us to continue in promoting the richness of Indonesian traditional fabrics. Tanimbar has not only its well known woven fabrics but also as a tourist destination is very potential” said H.E Mr. Djauhari Oratmangun, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Russian Federation and Republic of Belarus at that event.
First Malaysian culture festival celebrated in Moscow

This summer, the Malaysian Embassy organized the first Malaysian Culture Festival in Moscow, which was held at the Kuzminki Park, from 20-21 June, 2014. The event was launched by the Ambassador of Malaysia to the Russian Federation, His Excellency Dato’ Zainol Abidin Omar with the presence of the Director of Tourism Malaysia Moscow, Madam Noridah Kamarudin.

2014 was a special year for tourism in Malaysia as it had been designated as the Visit Malaysia Year. A lot of activities were held during the Festival to demonstrate the wonders and richness of Malaysia – Truly Asia. According to Ambassador Zainol, the Embassy had decided to create a piece of Malaysia here in Moscow, and through the magic of music, dance, art and Malaysian cuisine hope to acquaint the Russian public with Malaysia’s culture and give them the opportunity to feel the fascinating and diverse culture in Malaysia.

Visitors to the Festival had the opportunity to indulge into and experienced the uniqueness of the rich cultural heritage of Malaysia – taste unique cuisine such as roti canai and teh tarik (pull tea), watch live traditional dance performances which were brought all the way from Malaysia.

 

Appointments

New Anglican Chaplain arrives in Moscow

In August, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church welcomed a new chaplain, the Reverend Clive Fairclough. Prior to his ordination, Revd. Fairclough was a professional fundraiser for a variety of charities, including the Prince’s Trust. He also served a full career as an Army officer in the Royal Artillery. He and his wife, Jo, look forward to discovering Moscow. Revd. Fairclough hopes to increase the presence of St. Andrews in the local community. In addition to offering regular services, St. Andrews also supports several charities. More information about the church and its work can be found at www.moscowanglican.org and Facebook.com/MoscowAnglican.

 

Back to Russia: Oliver Eller has been appointed General Manager of Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow and Kempinski Area Director of Russia

Oliver Eller has been appointed as the general manager of Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow and as area director of Russia.

A German national, he started his career with a traditional apprenticeship in hotel management at the Maritim Staatsbadhotel Bad Salzuflen. After being granted a scholarship, Oliver broadened his horizons and knowledge at the highly regarded Cornell School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, USA. After his graduation, he worked in various positions in Miami, Buenos Aires and Bahrain. In 1999, he began working for Ritz-Carlton, where he was the general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Schlosshotel Berlin. With this position, he supported the openings of Ritz-Carlton properties in Egypt, New Orleans and Atlanta. This was followed by management positions at the Ritz-Carlton in Wolfsburg and in Berlin at the Potsdamer Platz.

Oliver Eller is not new to the Russian hotel market. In 2005, he moved to Moscow where he opened the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 2007 and turned it into the world-famous one. As general manager, he was responsible for this prestigious hotel, with its 410 rooms and 600 staff. Since then, he has learned to speak decent Russian, likes Russian food and observes Russian traditions. He has a Russian wife and two children.

Taking over the reigns of Hotel Baltschug Kempinski brings Oliver back to Moscow. In addition to his new role as general manager of Moscow property, Oliver will be overseeing other Kempinski properties in the Russian Federation.