For a fifth consecutive year, Montblanc is Sponsor Partner of Valéry Gergiev’s “White Nights Festival” in St Petersburg presenting the Montblanc New Voices Award to two outstanding young singers and new members of the Montblanc family: Sergei Semishkur & Mikhail Petrenko For many years, Montblanc has been engaged in cultural projects around the world.

For a fifth consecutive year, the luxury brand is reaffirming its support for Valéry Gergiev’s “White Nights Festival” in St Petersburg. After a Russian kick-off event in 2007, this year Montblanc presents the “Montblanc New Voices at Stars of the White Nights” to two outstanding performers. The award was created for the promotion of talented young opera singers under the guidance of Valéry Gergiev – longstanding friend and supporter of Montblanc.

Valéry Gergiev, star-conductor and artistic director of the Festival and the Mariinsky Theatre, will present this year’s Montblanc award to the Russian Tenor Sergei Semishkur and the Russian bass Mikhail Petrenko during the award ceremony at the Mariinsky Theatre at 12:00 a.m. The ceremony will be attended by opera lovers, special Montblanc VIP guests and friends of the brand. The “Montblanc New Voices Award 2011” winners will perform during a Montblanc Gala Concert in St Petersburg on the evening of the same day when Valéry Gergiev will introduce the two new voices to an international audience.

Mr. Semishkur is a Kirov-born tenor with a repertoire that includes Edgardo (Lucia di Lamermoor), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Lensky (Eugene Onegin) and Benvenuto Cellini. A Prize-winner at the International Rimsky-Korsakov Competition in 2006, he has been a soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre since 2007. Mr. Petrenko is originally from Leningrad and graduated from the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire. The bass is the recipient of numerous prizes including the Maria Callas New Verdi Voices Competition in 2000. He has been a soloist with the  Mariinsky Theater since 2001 and his repertoire includes Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Hagen (Götterdämmerung), Konchak (Prince Igor).