The Portland Khabarovsk Sister City Association was happy to once again host the Bridge to Russia event this year. Members of PKSCA, as well as numerous other supporters, gathered at the Old Church in downtown Portland to eat authentic Russian appetizers and listen to original compositions written and performed by local Jazz musicians. Because of this event, PKSCA was able to raise a substantial amount of money to be donated to the Jazz Bridge Project!

For almost 100 years jazz music has been building bridges and connecting cultures across the globe.  From the Voice of America broadcasts of the 1950’s, to the historic State Department tours of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie, to ground-breaking visits by jazz artists to China and the Soviet Union, jazz has opened the doors of dialogue and reached across borders, languages and cultures to create goodwill.

The Jazz Bridge Project is a collaborative cultural exchange between Portland, Oregon and its sister city Khabarovsk, Russia that is inspired by the role that jazz has played in bringing cultures together.  The Jazz Bridge Project is organized by PKSCA and Portland State University’s Leroy Vinnegar Jazz Institute.  Supporters of the project include PDX Jazz, presenters of the Portland Jazz Festival, and KMHD Jazz 89.1.  If you would like to be a part of the Jazz Bridge Project, please donate now by clicking the button below.

        

If you missed our Victory Day Dinner (День Победы) on May 8th at Ararat Restaurant then you missed an opportunity for comraderie rarely equaled in American culture.  Click Here to read about this year's celebration of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany.

Our delegation participated in the recent 152nd foundation celebration of the city of Khabarovsk at the end of May 2010. We stayed through the 5th of June and had the opportunity to participate in excursions (art gallery, museum of natural history, Russian Orthodox Churches, trade show (construction & architecture), Nanei village ate the Amur River, Baltika Beer Company, Cable Company). We had a special meeting with Mayor Sokolov to propose potential future projects. Mayor Sokolov expressed a strong interest to visit Portland with a delegation from Khabarovsk to strengthen the bilateral relationship between both cities at the Mayor level.