For several years now, SOUND UP - Moscow’s festival series of extraordinary concert events - has been bringing together the music that is both academic and futuristic, acoustic and electronic, popular and intellectual, written and performed by the living classics and young stars, Russian musicians and international artists. During the new concert season, SOUND UP is launching two projects that reflect the festival’s ideology to the utmost: a completely new symphony orchestra, comprised of Moscow’s best musicians, and the new SOUND UP prime concert series. The double unveiling of the orchestra and the concert series will happen on 13 December 2019 at the Zaryadye Concert Hall.  The plan to establish the SOUND UP orchestra was born of the passionate desire and the urgent need for Moscow performances of the new works by contemporary composers who exist in the frontier zone between academic tradition and innovative sound explorations, and to collaborate with the artists who make forays to the surrounding territories of pop music. Such tasks require a special group made up of special performers who combine flawless technique with erudition, freethinking and genuine interest in musical experiments. The SOUND UP orchestra comprised of Moscow’s best musicians will be directed by Vera Serebryakova who has received a classical conservatory training, has done internships in UK and France, has worked as a producer with a legendary Studio for New Music ensemble and has been on the longlist of the Golden Mask prize. The SOUND UP orchestra will take part in the different events of the festival series, but its first public appearance will coincide with another debut, the unveiling of the SOUND UP prime concert series. These series envision performances of works by contemporary composers that have been distinguished with various prestigious international awards. Such awards might come in the form of world famous prizes such as Pulitzer or Grammy, composer awards in the sphere of contemporary music, prizes of international competitions, personal medals from the most important private funds, and so on. These award-winning works will form the program of the SOUND UP prime series, presenting a panoramic view of contemporary musical art. The programs of the SOUND UP prime concert series will comprise the works from the aesthetically frontier zone: cutting edge academic music, electronic and electronic-acoustic projects, multi-genre music phenomena that melt together intellectual and popular, visuals and sound. One of the principles of the SOUND UP prime series will be the dialogue of national music schools and openness to new things: the programs will engage foreign conductors, soloists and composers to create an absolutely free and independent cultural space for music-making, exchange of ideas, reinvention and experiments. The concert series’ first guest will be Robert Ames, one of the principal conductors of the London Contemporary Orchestra who has lead this famous music collective during its performances at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, St. John at Hackney, Oval Space and other famous concert venues. The British conductor has worked with such outstanding contemporary composers as Steve Reich, Terry Riley and Meredith Monk, and musicians Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, Frank Ocean, William Basinski and DJ Shadow. The debut concert of the SOUND UP prime series will see the performance of works that are rarely heard or have never been performed in Russia before: the mesmerizing and monumental opus of John Luther Adams “Become Ocean” that received a Pulitzer Prize in 2014 and a Grammy for the “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” in 2015; Jonny Greenwood’s suite based on the music from There Will Be Blood movie that was nominated for Grammy in 2008 for the “Best Soundtrack”; selected compositions from the Under the Skin movie that were written by Mica Levy who collected a number of awards at the European and American film festivals; and a number of other pieces. This event is part of the UK - Russia Year of Music 2019, a programme which celebrates the UK and Russia’s rich musical cultures and our profound respect for each other’s musical traditions and achievements. The UK-Russia Year of Music programme is conducted by the British Embassy in Moscow with the support of the British Council.