Event: Concert in Paris for Khodorkovsky and Human Rights in Russia

Tonight the Association of Art in Support of Civil Liberties of Paris is hosting what promises to be a wonderful performance of works by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Schnittke, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and others interpreted by Aurélien Pontier (piano), Liana Gourdjia (violin), Marc Coppey (cello), and Alexandra Grot (flute) at the Adyar Concert Hall. The concert, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other political prisoners in Russia, was sold out in record time and is now waiting list only. Crossroads Kenneth Weissberg, attorney at the Paris Bar, and Robert Amsterdam, attorney at the Ontario Bar, have known each other and worked together for many years. In 1993, attending a concert in New York State at the invitation of Mr. Weissberg, Mr. Amsterdam met and became a friend and admirer of the French pianist Aurélien Pontier. At the end of a concert in Burgundy during the summer of 2007, Robert Amsterdam talked with Aurélien Pontier and Kenneth Weissberg about civil liberties issues he faces in his legal defense of a Russian citizen. Aurélien Pontier, who has always felt an attachment to Russia, offered to set up a concert in Paris featuring Russian music, dedicated to those who, paradoxically in that country of culture, suffer from a lack of liberty. This project has triggered great enthusiasm in a circle of music lovers and musicians who value civil liberties and human rights. The Association « Art au service des Libertés Publiques » (Art in Support of Civil Liberties) was born from this encounter. It offers to set up first-rate artistic events in France, which will bring together the talent and passion that are found in France to mobilize public opinion and express solidarity with people who lack these freedoms. The first of these events will be a concert of Russian music at the Adyar Concert Hall, in Paris on October 29, 2007 by the quartet formed by Aurélien Pontier with the French cellist Marc Coppey and two talented Russian musicians: the violinist Liana Gourdjia and the flutist Alexandra Grot. These two musicians are coming from the United States and Germany to meet the Parisian public and offer the pleasures of Russian music in support of the civil liberties of Russian citizens. Admission to the concert will be free, and there will be an opportunity to join the Association « Art au service des Libertés publiques ».