Get Ready to Jam in Yakutsk!
Imagine a concert where the line between audience and performer is almost non-existent. A place where your uncle’s questionable karaoke rendition is finally given the stage time it deserves! Welcome to BIG JAM—the party where every tone-deaf enthusiast can find their groove, and musicians of all stripes come together to create a symphony of chaos… in the best way possible.
Meet the Maestro Behind the Madness: Lyubov Gorskaya
Who better to kick things off than the high-voltage organizer herself, Lyubov Gorskaya? When I say she’s passionate, I mean she practically sings a love ballad to the city every morning. Lyubov describes BIG JAM as a concert that “can literally change your idea of live music!” Now, that’s quite the ambition! I mean, if only she could change my idea of my neighbor’s attempts at singing “My Way” at unearthly hours!
What on Earth is BIG JAM?
According to our virtuoso, this isn’t just a concert; it’s a full-blown musical community. This magical melt of talent includes everyone from Yakut pop artists to enthusiastic amateurs who, quite frankly, didn’t know they were born to strut their stuff! With over 150 participants gracing the stage, it’s a miracle the crowd hasn’t formed a conga line to the nearest bar.
Lyubov assures us that the sound quality is top-notch—only the best sound engineers, sound so good it almost drowns out that enthusiastic audience participation we all know and love (or mildly tolerate). Plus, it’s free for spectators! So if you’re in Yakutsk, why not immerse yourself in some *live* harmonies while basking in the warmth of community spirit… or while making questionable life choices? Either works!
A Symphony of Talents
During these musical mashes, they’ve housed some seriously illustrious performers. It’s a star-studded affair that has seen participants from the State Circus of Yakutia right through to local music teachers—basically a vast tapestry of talent where even your new-age-podcaster cousin can get in on the fun. Lyubov’s aim? To turn hidden gems into polished stars, or at the very least, into folks who won’t set fire to the stage!
“We want everyone to fall in love with music—whether that be through a meticulous rendition of classical masterpieces or a spontaneous polka with a hint of jazz.” – Lyubov Gorskaya
The Junior Edition: A Musical Wonderland for Kids!
Of course, let’s not forget the tiny tots! YES, the BIG JAM isn’t solely for adults. Lyubov has grand plans for the kids! After all, what better way to inspire the next generation than with a jam session themed on *cartoon songs*? Can we get a “let it go” from our future pop stars, please? They recently held their first “JAM SESSION – junior” and let me tell you, the excitement from those pint-sized performers was palpable! I’m convinced we could fill a stadium with the amount of pure joy radiating from them as they belted out all their favorite tunes.
Make Music, Not Limits!
Lyubov invites everyone, from seasoned musicians to closeted karaoke champions, to join in. There’s an open mic audition where aspiring musicians—yes, I mean YOU with your half-baked song ideas—can submit their performances for potential inclusion in upcoming events. The only rule? You must have fun. Although, if your idea of “fun” is a three-hour rendition of Captain Pugwash, maybe we need to reconsider…
Conclusion: Join the Jam!
Now, if you’re sitting in Yakutsk pondering what to do next, let me make it ridiculously easy for you: get involved. Whether you’re a spectating couch potato or looking to unleash your inner rockstar, the BIG JAM is the perfect concoction of live music, community vibes, and just the right amount of jazz hands. Lyubov has one mission: bring music to everyone. So go on, put the “big” in your jam, and let’s make some noise!
YAKUTIA.INFO. BIG JAM is a unique live concert in the jam session format, where not only professional musicians and Yakut pop artists, but also talented music lovers meet on the same stage.
Today we will talk more about it with the organizer of this event – By Lyubov Gorskaya.
— Love, tell us briefly about the Big Jam.
— I’ll say it a little loudly, but for me this is a concert that can literally change your idea of live music! Its value for our city is extremely high. The main goal of the project is to develop the music industry and improve the professionalism of performers. Our mission, in a way, is to create and develop a permanent stage venue for musicians and music lovers.
BIG JAM is more than just a concert. This is a real musical community that creates the necessary conditions for self-realization and exchange of experience among musicians. And, of course, to identify new talented performers.
— How long have you been around and who are you?
— BIG JAM has existed on the sites of the city of Yakutsk for more than two years! All this time we worked hard, grew and tried to develop in every possible way. The organizer of the concerts is the ANO “Creative Association “Third Current”, represented by the director, that is, me. Our main partner is the rental company “RENTEC”, which is led by one of the most qualified sound engineers in the city – Renat Maksutov. And of course, we receive a lot of support at concert venues and from musicians, artists and simply caring people in our city.
At the moment, more than 150 participants have already performed at the concerts, many of whom have never been connected with the world of music before, but now their world has turned upside down so that they no longer want to go further without it! And all because the BIG JAM is always only live sound, the highest quality sound engineering and equipment in our city, only the best and most professional artists in the city, and of course, online broadcasts of concerts that allow viewers from outside the city to join us Yakutsk And an even more important fact for readers is that our concerts are completely free for spectators!
— Speaking about famous people of our city, tell me, how many artists have already performed at your events?
— Since the creation of the project, we have been supported and continue to be supported by the most professional and brilliant artists and musicians of Yakutsk. Among our regular participants are artists from the State Circus of Yakutia, the State Philharmonic of the Republic, the State Variety Theater of the Republic, the National Dance Theater of the Republic, GARDT named after A.S. Pushkin, teachers and students of the Children’s Art School No. 1 of Yakutsk, students of the Higher School of Music of the Republic, Yakut Music College named after. M.N. Zhirkov, Yakut pop artists, members of musical groups in our city, teachers of private schools and music studios.
We are trying to unite within ourselves as many cultural institutions of the city as possible, to bring together the coolest artists, teachers, students and pupils, to give them the opportunity to perform their most favorite compositions, those works for which perhaps there has not yet been an audience or the right platform, and most importantly – to give an opportunity to grow in your professionalism, expand in creativity, create collaborations and make as many people as possible fall in love with music and with yourself!
Egor Efimov, Vladimir Okhotnikov, Dmitry Shugushev, Dmitry Vinokurov, Alena Degtyareva, Valentin Parfenov. Footage from the concert on 15.12.2022
Artists and teachers of the city of Yakutsk, who stood at the origins of the BIG JAM and take an active part in concerts:
Vladimir Okhotnikov, Lyubov Gorskaya, Vaso Konakovski, Semyon Chistoedov, Konstantin Danilov, Maryam Cherepanova, Zoya Petrova, Andrey Dedyukin, Julia Kahn, Egor Efimov, Valentin Parfenov, Alexander Kaplun, Vladislav Semenov, Igor Egorov, Olympia, Umsuura, Daria Lavrova, Alena Degtyareva, Leonid Antsiferov, Alexey Soldatov, Dmitry Nikiforov-Keller, Irina Sakhinova, Olga Oleshkevich, Kim Tatarinov, Alexander Efimov, Stepan Fedorenko, Ksenia Zykova, Ilya Danilevsky, Marya Larina, Daria Rokacheva, Vladimir Kropotov etc.
Daria Rokacheva, Dmitry Nikiforov-Keller, Alexander Kaplun
Footage from the concert 09/19/2024
— The BIG JAM is a concert for adults only, right?
– In the majority, yes, but then what is all this for if we don’t think about the children?
The most important part of our work is the education of growing musicians. At a concert, they always have the opportunity to truly express themselves, to perform exactly what they love to play or sing the most. We try not to limit the participants in terms of repertoire; rather, on the contrary, we strongly support any, even the most incredible, creative ideas!
I, as a vocal teacher who has devoted almost 10 years of my life to this business and, probably, more than 25 years to creativity and teaching in general, have long wanted there to be a little more practice areas in the city. Children, students, month after month learn their stellar compositions to play in technical tests, academic exams and for internal events of their schools and colleges. And, as a rule, these works do not go much further after that. Participating and winning competitions is very good, but they don’t happen that often! And, as they say, rather than sitting and waiting for something in life, it’s easier to create everything yourself! That’s what we did in 2022.
Now our jam is a permanent, open and high-quality platform where you can reveal your talent to this world without fear and with pleasure! For student musicians, this is perhaps the best stage practice base in Yakutsk, where you can show your skills to a large number of complete strangers, try your hand at improvisation, find like-minded people and assemble your own group. Well, for children it’s just some kind of magical adult world, where for some reason they can now go, and where they can feel like real stars!
That is, children’s concerts are still held?
— Yes, on June 1, 2023, together with the “Department of Culture and Spiritual Development” of the JSC of the city of Yakutsk and the MBU DO “Children’s Art School No. 1” “GO Yakutsk” we held the first jam for children in Yakutsk – the 1st City Music Festival improvisation “JAM SESSION – junior”, which became an incredible event in the lives of many talented children of Yakutsk. This concert seemed to make children fall in love with music once again! He showed students of various schools in our city and their parents the beauty and diversity of the “musician” profession, and new opportunities for realizing their talent. Some of them, after our concert, decided to truly connect their lives with music and choose it as their profession. And this is very gratifying for me!
Sofia Popova, Alina Kirsanova, Bogdan Kazanov, Eva Tikhonova,
Footage from the concert, December 5, 2022.
— Are there any more concerts planned for children?
— If I had the will, strength and time, I would hold them monthly, just like adult jams. But, everything has its time! We will definitely do everything to ensure that our children perform more often.
And of course, we are already planning the II “Jam Session – junior”. It will take place on December 15 this year. Since we specifically chose the pre-New Year period, it will be themed on songs from cartoons, movies and, of course, everyone’s favorite New Year’s compositions.
Applications are accepted until November 15, information can be requested at: [email protected]. In the meantime, we are looking for information sponsors and will be very glad to receive any help and support! First of all, from educational, cultural and other institutions of Yakutsk.
Makar Kozhevnikov, Alexander Kaplun, Vsevolod Shchupletsov, Artur Bagarysov
I City Festival of Musical Improvisation “JAM SESSION – junior»
01.07.2023
— Earlier you said that not only professionals can perform at the jam. Let’s talk more about this.
– Certainly! A distinctive feature of our concerts is that not only professionals who play high-quality instruments on various instruments perform on the stage of the BIG JAM, but also talented amateurs. Completely simple people who may have noticed that they can sing karaoke very well, or play the guitar coolly during “gatherings around the fire” can perform on stage with us. For some reason, before they had not even thought about the possibility of taking this talent of theirs to a wider audience. Well, now they have a great place for this!
With the help of our jam, we want to show talented guys that getting into the world of music is, in fact, not so difficult! I like to say that we have opened the veil of musical mystery, to which people from other worlds have not often been allowed before. And we really believe that in this way we will increase the involvement of the people of our city in musical events, we will teach them to attend concerts at least once a month, where they can relax their souls, spend time in pleasant company, have a delicious dinner and listen to beautiful, high-quality and interesting music. In fact, the above characteristics of our concert are what I want to leave forever unshakable.
After all, the city has wonderful theaters, the Philharmonic, where you can always listen to high-quality music, but so far there is no permanent large and popular base in order to combine this process with delicious food, good service, stunning interior – a place where you can truly relax soul in every sense. We want to be such a place in Yakutsk.
By the way, musical events with a similar atmosphere are already appearing in the city, some of which are organized by the “House of Musicians” and other interested organizations. And here I cannot help but mention our great friends – “Jazz Jam YKT”, a young but very important project, whose concerts are conducted by an excellent young pianist and composer, director of the Yakutia jazz orchestra “SAKHA BIG BAND” – Egor Efimov.
– Okay, being a person who, for example, plays the guitar well, can I take part?
— Anyone can apply to participate in the Open Microphone category. If you want to perform in this category, then you will need to go through a selection process – record a video of your performance, fill out a form and attach this video to it. After some time, the organizers will contact you and tell you what awaits you next.
To submit your application, you can use email: or find us on social networks. For example, in community “VKontakte” by the name of our concert.
Open Mic participants:
Nurgun Everstov, Svetlana Parfenova, Natalia Solo, Alexander Kondakov
— In our opinion, this is a very good and interesting concert format for Yakutsk! Love, what would you like to say to our readers at last?
– Friends! Making music and growing together is what we exist for! After all, this is a unique language that unites people all over the world! And we believe that together we can make a huge number of listeners fall in love with music. And of course, make our children fall in love with her! Come to the BIG JAM, apply for participation, and together with you we will make our city a little better!
