Russian Union of Concert Organizations

The Russian Union of Concert Organizations (RUCO) is a professional community of legal entities in the field of academic music, uniting the main subjects of concert activity of various forms of ownership, types and organizational structures. The scale of RUCO activities embraces 91 concert organizations from 60 regions and 8 federal districts of Russia.

The Mission of RUCO

The Mission of RUCO is to promote development of philharmonic art in the Russian Federation.

Objectives:

• Study and analysis of the state of the philharmonic business in Russia;
• Formation of the legal framework of the concert community;
• Provision of practical assistance to Russian philharmonic organizations;
• Coordination of activities, protection of common property and non-property interests of the Union members;
• Lobby and advocacy for concert organizations at the federal and regional levels.

Union Today

Currently, RUCO is the only professional association in Russia dealing with the development of concert activities in the field of academic music and lobbying the interests of its members with the governments of all levels.

The RUCO includes large concert organizations consisting of concert venues and performance groups; organizations representing only a concert venue or only a collective, as well as artistic and production agencies. The RUCO members are:

• 61 philharmonic societies;
• 15 concert organizations conducting philharmonic activities and owning concert halls;
• 9 independent performing groups;
• 5 artistic and production agencies;
• 1 publisher - Muzykalnoye Obozreniye (Musical Review) newspaper

In terms of ownership, the RUCO member-organizations break down as follows:

• 5 national
• 75 regional
• 5 local
• 6 private

Resources

The main asset of the RUCO are the specialists of creative professions. The resource-based activities of the Union include creation of conditions for professional development, organization of employment, improvement of the regulatory framework and expansion of funding sources.

Activity.The RUCO activities include participation in the development of a regulatory framework in the field of academic art, the organization of symposiums and conferences on topical issues of philharmonic art, the development of free information exchange between concert organizations of the Russian Federation, provision of information support for RUCO members on issues related to their professional activities, and regular monitoring of the conditions of concert activities.

Additional information:

• participation in the development and implementation of the examination of draft laws, regulations, decisions of state bodies related to the organization of the philharmonic business, the functioning of concert organizations, working and living conditions of creative workers;
• Organization of symposiums and conferences on topical issues of philharmonic art;
• Collection, systematization and dissemination of information on the issues of Russian philharmonic art and development of free information exchange between concert organizations of the Russian Federation and their colleagues abroad;
• Collaboration with creative and professional unions, concert organizations and creative teams of the Russian Federation and other states;
• Interaction with federal and regional state bodies, local authorities, public associations, mass media and other structures invested in the development of the philharmonic art;
• Provision of information to RUCO members on issues related to their professional activities;
• Monitoring of the conditions of concert activities on a regular basis.

Road Map

The RUCO Road Map provides for the gradual and purposeful involvement of the professional community in the decision-making process and participation in the implementation of the national policy in culture, including the issues of personnel training and professional development.

History

The history of the RUCO emergence is inextricably linked with the activities of the Association of Concert Organizations of the Urals, established on April 4, 2000 in Chelyabinsk. The founder of the Association and its mastermind was the CEO of the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Alexander Nikolaevich Kolotursky, who was unanimously elected its first Chairperson. The Association was established by six concert organizations of the Ural region: the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Perm, Orenburg, Kurgan Philharmonics and the Chelyabinsk Concert Association. Mikhail M. Birman, Director of the Tyumen Philharmonic became the next chairperson of the Association at the Association’s convention held on July 3, 2003.

Within a few years, the Association grew in number of its members, having included concert organizations from Siberia, the Volga region, the North-West and other regions of Russia. In 2005, it was decided to rename the Association of Concert Organizations of the Urals into the Association of Concert Organizations of Russia.

On March 13, 2006, at a planned meeting in Tomsk, another renaming took place – this time into the Russian Union of Concert Organizations (hereinafter - RUCO). On July 4, 2006, the first Congress of the RUCO took place in Moscow. At that period of time, the Union encountered 24 members. At the July Congress, 18 more organizations from different regions of Russia had joined the Union, including the Moscow Philharmonic Society. Alexey A. Shalashov, CEO of the Moscow Philharmonic was elected the President of the RUCO. The Congress also elected the RUCO Council, which included representatives of different regions of Russia, from the Far East to Kaliningrad. Within the Council, a Presidium was formed. Alexander N. Kolotursky, CEO of the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, became the RUCO Vice-President, Mikhail M. Birman, Director of the Tyumen Philharmonic was appointed the Chairman of the Council, and Director of the Omsk Philharmonic Vasily I. Evstratenko took the position of the Chairman of the Control Commission.

The First Congress of RUCO had adopted the important initial document aimed at regulating the concert activity in the country – the Charter of Russian Concert Organizations. The Charter defined and assumed the performance of certain functions of the main subjects of concert activity: Artist-Agent-Promoter-Venue-Audience, therefore building a system of mutual obligations and protection of participants in the concert space, as well as creation of system approach to the structure of their relationships.

In the first years of its existence, the RUCO arranged for a number of important events, such as the 1st and the 2nd Philharmonic Forums of Russia held in Moscow. Within the Forums’ framework, the showcase of the concert organizations was arranged fostering the emergence of the professional community networking.

In 2016, RUCO became the only organization among the professional communities that registered the word "Russia" in its name, as well as the words derived from this name.

One of the most important areas of the Union’s activity is the conclusion of a number of cooperation agreements with the largest cultural organizations in Russia. In 2016, a cooperation agreement with the Union of Russian Museums represented by its President Mikhail B. Piotrovsky was signed. In 2017, a memorandum of cooperation in the field of classical music was signed with the Russian Authors' Society, represented by its Chair Alexander B. Krichevsky. In the same year, a cooperation agreement with the Association of Musical Theaters, represented by the Executive Director Natalya S. Zykova was signed, as well as an agreement with the Association of Musical Museums and Collectors, represented by the President Mikhail A. Bryzgalov.

The main objective of the RUCO since its inception has been the joint discussion and solution of the problems of the concert sphere, championing their interests at various governmental levels, and exchanging information and experience.

Over the years of its existence, RUCO has grown to the organization that has a significant impact on the development of the academic art in the country. At the initiative of the RUCO, a number of legislative documents have been adopted regulating the concert life of Russia at the national level. Among them were the Federal Law “On Autonomous Institutions” (No. 174-FZ dated November 3, 2006) and the Concept for the Development of Concert Activities in the Field of Academic Music in the Russian Federation for the period until 2025, approved by Government Decree (No. 2395-r dated November 24, 2015).