“Spring Waters” in London raised £6,000 for Nikita Orlov

Charity evening of opera and ballads “Spring Waters” in London raised £6,000 for the treatment of 10-year-old Nikita Orlov

On March 7th, a charity evening of opera and ballads “Spring Water” with the soloist Royal Opera House Sofia Fomina and pianist Sergei Rybin took place in London. All proceeds from this event will be used directly to the treatment of Nikita Orlov, the patient of Podari Zhizn, Gift of Life’s sister charity organization. Nikita is fighting Ewing sarcoma, a malign bone tumor, and he needs the live-saving surgery. Nikita’s 11th birthday is on 14th March, the help of the friends of Gift of Life will be a great gift for him.

The evening started with the performance of the ROH soloist Sofia Fomina, she has brilliantly performed 5 arias (Il Barbiere di Seviglia and others) and ballads by S.Rachmaninov, N.Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky (Spring Waters, Lilac and others). During the interval the guests took part in the charity lottery with gifts from Russian designers and the main prize – tickets to the performances of the Maly Drama Theater, provided by friends of the fund, Belka Productions.

Sofia Fomina, soloist of The Royal Opera House:

I’m glad to be part of Gift of Life today, because the foundation does an incredibly important job: it gives children and their families a hope for recovery and a long life without illness. All our efforts and thoughts with those who need help and sympathy. Art is always being about empathy, and in moments of illness support is particularly important, loneliness is dangerous. It is an honor for me to be a part of the foundation and its mission – saving children’s lives.

Lyuba Galkina, trustee of Gift of Life:

We are grateful to everyone who responded and took part in the charity musical evening “Spring Waters” with the participation of the Royal Opera House soloist Sofia Fomina. Each event for us is an exciting experience, we are always anticipating a miracle, and it happens every time. Friends of Gift of Life invariably confirm that miracles happen, and that children could continue treatment, recover and not feel lonely in the fight against the disease.

Reference

Sofia Fomina – world’s top opera singer, coloratura soprano. Sofia made her Royal Opera debut in 2012 as Isabelle (Robert le diable) and has since sung Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Jemmy (Guillaume Tell) and Olympia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann). In the 2017/18 Season she returns to sing Gilda (Rigoletto).

The Gift of Life Foundation is a sister charity to the Russian Podari Zhizn Foundation. Its primary purpose is to gather funds within the UK and other European countries to pay for the treatment of severely ill children in Russia. Gift of Life regularly gathers money for medicines which are not yet registered in Russia, but which are irreplaceable when treating certain types of cancer. The charity also pays for visits by foreign specialists to the Dmitry Rogachev Centre for Paediatric Haematology in Moscow in order to conduct operations and teach Russian doctors unique surgical methods. Since 2011, Gift of Life has collected over £4,600,000 and provided aid to over 310 Russian children.