On February 25, the opening of the X International Musical Competition Festival "Silver Lyre" took place, which was organized by the Department "Music and Methods of Teaching Music", the Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Sciences, the Institute of Teacher Education, Penza State University. The event took place in a remote format and ran until February 27.

“The aim of the symposium is to exchange scientific information and creative experience in the field of music education pedagogy, to search for ways to solve problems related to moral and aesthetic education and the socio-cultural formation of the individual. And it is more important now, when there are still restrictions for people to gather in music halls, when we cannot get together and show how wonderful music is and its manifestations in various genres. Today we do it remotely, but the number of participants, the quality of performance remain the same - this once again emphasizes the importance of music in human life,” stressed Tatyana Shipilkina, Head of the Department “Music and Methods of Teaching Music”, the ideological inspirer of the festival.

On February 25, on the opening day of the festival, competitive auditions of the participants took place. Traditionally, these were guests from Penza, the Penza region, neighboring regions and participants from neighboring countries (Belarus, China). The high status of the festival is confirmed by the international jury consisting of Il Oh Yang, the main conductor and art director of the Songpa National Philarmonic Orchestra (Seoul, South Korea); Elena Krasovskaya, Professor of the Department of Musical and Performing Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences (Moscow, Russia); Viktor Demidov, Professor of the Department of Academic Singing, Saratov State Conservatory, solo performer of the Saratov Opera and Ballet Theater, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation (Saratov, Russia).

The main scientific areas of the symposium are: philosophical, historical and cultural aspects of education and musical art; the formation of social and value orientations of the individual; tradition and innovation in education and music; psychological and pedagogical problems of modern education.

On February 26, the programme of the symposium consisted of scientific reports, a round table with the participation of international guests, master classes by leading Russian and foreign researchers, honoured artists.

On February 27, the results were summed up and the winners and participants were awarded with certificates.