The Musical Olympus Foundation within the framework of the new project NO BORDERS Festival held a long-awaited concert of Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea, who have been the two undisputed geniuses of jazz for over several decades. The warm reception inspired the musicians to play several pieces encore and even invite the audience to sing together from the stage.

During the concert, Bobby once again demonstrated his unique ability to capture and move the audience. The huge hall choired and improvised with the artists almost all the time. The event, held in one of the main concert halls of St. Petersburg was attended over 3500 spectators, connoisseurs of the unparallel creativity and artistic output of McFerrin and Chick Corea.

«Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea are incredible masters of improvisation, in spite of the fact that both have excellent classical education», noted Irina Nikitina, president of the Musical Olympus Foundation . «Bobby, for example, is no mere singer, he is also a talented pianist, and a terrific conductor of cappella music. Chick is renowned as an undisputed pianist but  is also an innovative  keyboardist and a prolific composer. These two multi-functional musicians show by their example that the language of music is clear to everyone».

The collaboration of Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea has a long history. Together they have released two albums, the first Play (1992) spurred pure joy in jazz fans and brought another McFerrin, the tenth in a row Grammy Award. The second album was called The Mozart Sessions (1995). The album presents the original interpretation of the two piano concertos by Mozart.

Despite the international fame and world-wide popularity, Bobby and Chick do not often give joint concerts, and this event is their first joint performance in Russia. The concert in St. Petersburg was held in the framework of the NO BORDERS International Music Festival, the new project of the Musical Olympus Foundation.   

«This festival is a unique event which combines an array of modern genres: jazz, blues, ethnic, rocks, electronic music, all of them are performed by professional musicians and bands from around the world», says Irina Nikitina.  «The festival transcends all the boundaries between genres, because music is the only universal language of the mankind, which requires no translation because people perceive music through their emotions».

In Moscow, Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea gave a concert on June 15 at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.