From September 9 to 13, the 51st international accordion competition PIF Castelfidardo took place in Castelfidardo.
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The jury was chaired by Ukrainian composer Volodymyr Zubytskyi. Among the jury members were the Lithuanian representative, LMTA professor R. Sviackevičius, the Polish representative Klaudiusz Baran, as well as musicians from Spain, France, the USA, China, Italy, and Serbia.
They asked not to award points to Russian participants
R. Sviackevičius announced in a public post that he, jury chairman V. Zubytskyi, and Polish representative K. Baran asked the competition organizers for permission not to give points to Russian participants.
According to R. Sviackevičius, the organizers granted this request.
“I simply say NO and will not vote while the war is ongoing,” R. Sviackevičius writes in his post.
I simply say NO and will not vote while the war is ongoing
The accordionist states that initially he did not intend to publicize this story. According to him, the results sheet noted why he did not award points to Russian participants, and this decision was agreed upon with the organizers on the first day of the competition.
However, after the mayor’s speech at the competition’s final ceremony, R. Sviackevičius decided to speak publicly about the situation.
The mayor apologized to the Russian participants
R. Sviackevičius states that during the awards ceremony, Castelfidardo mayor Roberto Ascani publicly apologized to the Russian participants for the jury members’ decision not to award them points.
The mayor’s publicly released speech stated that some members of the international jury refused to award points to certain competition participants due to their Russian citizenship. The mayor considered this decision a violation of the competition rules and declared that measures would be taken to prevent those who violated the rules from participating in PIF juries in the future.
The mayor also publicly apologized to the Russian competition participants.
The mayor’s speech:
R. Sviackevičius evaluated this mayor’s statement in his post as a public apology to the Russian participants and said that after it, he could no longer remain silent.
The accordionist also writes that part of the audience reacted to the mayor’s speech with applause and cheers, while several groups of guests from other European countries were reportedly shocked.
R. Sviackevičius emphasizes that he does not consider his decision a political campaign. According to him, it was a personal choice not to evaluate Russian participants while the war is ongoing.
“Not the first time – Italian shame”
LMTA professor, Doctor of Humanities, Senior Researcher at the Science Center, and Senate Chair Lina Navickaitė-Martinelli also wrote about the situation on her Facebook page.
She began her post with the words: “Not the first time – Italian shame.”
L. Navickaitė-Martinelli wrote that at the international accordion competition, three jury members – representatives from Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine – “asked for the right not to vote for participants from Russia as a form of protest.”
“The organizers respected this decision and granted such a right,” she said.
The organizers respected this decision and granted such a right.
According to L. Navickaitė-Martinelli, during the competition ceremony, the mayor decided to apologize to the Russian participants for the jury members’ position and publicly promised that these jury members would no longer be invited to the competition.
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“Well, today in Lithuania we saw that mayors are not eternal, and we all can and must make such value choices every day like colleague Raimondas Sviackevičius,” she wrote in her post.
L. Navickaitė-Martinelli also urged “not to tire of educating and enlightening Westerners, Southerners, and everyone who still babbles about ‘let’s not mix art with politics.’”
In the comments of her post, she also published R. Sviackevičius’s statement about the incident.
“This is politics through culture”
R. Sviackevičius connects the situation in his post with a broader discussion about the participation of Russian representatives in international cultural events.
“Inviting Russian representatives, provocation, actions supporting the aggressor – this is politics through culture,” the accordionist writes.
He also recalls his previous experience in Bosnia. R. Sviackevičius states that three years ago in Bjelina he was disqualified, and his two days of work on the jury and the competition results were annulled. According to him, later at another competition, where the head of the International Accordionists Confederation (CIA, “Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes”) Mirco Patarini had influence or connections, he was given a three-year disqualification.
R. Sviackevičius also notes that the Lithuanian Accordionists Association, which he leads, belongs to the CIA.
According to him, since the beginning of the war, there has been a Russian representative from Moscow, Alexander Selivanov, in the CIA governing bodies. R. Sviackevičius states that representatives from European countries, expressing protest, withdrew from the committees.
The accordionist also states that the annual CIA events, which were planned to be held in Sweden and other countries, had to be canceled due to these countries’ positions regarding the participation of Russian representatives in the confederation’s governing bodies.
R. Sviackevičius does not directly link these claims in his post to this year’s PIF Castelfidardo competition but presents them as context from his previous experience.
R. Sviackevičius says that this time he did not intend to publicize the situation but decided to tell about it after the mayor’s speech.
Help us, understand us.
“Help us, understand us,” R. Sviackevičius quotes the words of Ukrainian jury chairman V. Zubytskyi in his post.
He also urges to be, in his words, “humane and compassionate, not just beneficiaries.”
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R. Sviackevičius ends his post with the words: “Glory to Ukraine!”
