Do not awaken cultural mischief while it is quiet.

      In a collective letter spanning five pages, the best musicians in the country, gathered 32 years ago into a single creative team by Valery Raevsky (the artistic director and chief conductor, after whom the orchestra is named), express their pain over the fact that the largest cultural institution in the region has "entered dark times."

      "The culture of the region has turned into a cesspool — this is a fact. And there is nowhere left to fall — only to choke," the musicians write.

      However, the bitter emotional message is not only related to the story of the methodical destruction of Vyatka's academic culture, as perceived by the musicians: when artists with conservatory education are expelled, and in their place come leaders who can only distinguish "do" from "la" at the level of general education school singing lessons, but also to the financial activities of the institution, where reducing salaries has become the norm.

      Is the Government to blame?

      As stated in the letter, at noon on June 23, Konstantin Zainulin held a meeting with the orchestra's team.

      "He (the quote is preserved with spelling) turned red and pale, was very nervous, sweated profusely, and his hands trembled when he informed the team that the President's April decision to raise salaries for the entire budget by seven percent was impossible to implement. This is because the regional government has underfunded the Philharmonic — by 17 million rubles for salaries. So the salary will not change, but the increasing coefficients will decrease. At the same time, the salary will drop by no more than three thousand rubles," the Philharmonic musicians write.

      Interestingly, while mentioning the regional government in connection with the 17-million ruble salary shortfall, Zainulin, to put it mildly, contradicted both himself and common sense. After all, the salary fund, simply put, the stable salary of musicians, is funded by the budget. But the increasing coefficients — for intensity and quality of work — are the financial burden of the Philharmonic itself.

      With royal pretensions

      Thus, probably to justify the financial scheming, Konstantin Alexandrovich, according to the text of the letter, "ordered the artists to sign a notification of changes in working conditions," which will take effect on September 1. Moreover, those who do not sign the agreement "may seek other places of work."

      But, considering that this is the only symphony orchestra in the region, the "managerial blackmail" seems quite obvious. After all, for those performers who have spent years mastering complex scores, finding employment in Kirov can only be in a restaurant, professionally "playing" for the digestion of chewing clients. Or, for variety and extra income, playing in the underground passage near the Central Department Store.

      "We realized that the director is lying when he talks about the need to save on our salaries. To understand this, one only needs to add simple numbers: today there are no more than 70 of us left, and if each is underpaid by three thousand, that totals 210. Multiply by four months of savings — from September to December, and compare 840 thousand with 17 million rubles. That's what we call saving," say the Philharmonic employees.

      They ran from the "cultural ship"

      By the way, considering that the "economic sanctions" did not affect the leadership of the Philharmonic and the Ministry of Culture, as well as the curator of the "cultural sector" — Deputy Chairperson Svetlana Shumailova — the unexpected dismissal (on June 29) of the chief accountant of the Philharmonic, Nadezhda Shilyaeva, is associated by the artists with fleeing a sinking ship.

      Interestingly, on the same day that news of the chief accountant's departure became known, a source from the "gray house" reported the alleged intention of Konstantin Zainulin to part ways with the leadership of two "cultural cradles" — the Drama Theater and the Philharmonic. And perhaps the "father of dark times" has already found himself, but not in Kirov, a new leadership position.

      As emphasized by the interlocutor, he shared his opinion with the editorial office after a confidential and informal conversation. He also noted that, according to his information, no resignation letter had been submitted at the end of June.

      On cultural weights

      By the way, it is not excluded that the "citizen of the Russian Federation" (as Konstantin Alexandrovich introduced himself in the lawsuit against Newsler.ru demanding compensation for moral damages in the amount of half a million rubles) may find employment at his place of registration — in the city of Sochi. Where a specialist in "cultural development" — with a diploma in "practical methods in economics" — will find broader opportunities due to the multinationality of both cultures and orientations in the "beach capital."

      A possible reason for the "departure of the Philharmonic director" could also be the dissatisfaction of the head of the regional government, Mikhail Sandalov, who was publicly accused of "squeezing budgetary-salary money" from the authority he leads. Additionally, there were appeals from Newsler.ru to district prosecutors and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation providing documentary evidence of the "financial collapse" — signed by Zainulin himself — regarding the institutions of culture being brought to... practically bankruptcy.

      Moreover, the responses from the prosecutor's office sent to the Publishing House do not deny that an administrative violation has been found and recognized.

      It is worth recalling that in court, the "citizen of the Russian Federation" fervently argued against the "false assertion of the author of the article 'Cultural Grabbers Have Provided the Kirov Philharmonic with Another Scandal,'" as the author's phrase "the Philharmonic has no money at all" discredits him as a leader, including in a criminal sense.

      And the evidence presented by the editorial office to Themis confirmed that the author of the text was only partially wrong in writing "there is no money at all." After all, a more accurate version would be "not at all-at all." Since the debts of the Drama Theater and the Philharmonic are impressive, amounting to minus 146.8 million rubles (with accounts payable for payments and taxes exceeding 33 million) and minus 162.9 million, of which the arrears for payments and taxes are 15.7 million.

      Oh times, oh morals

      By the way, regarding the intention of the Philharmonic employees to tell the editorial office about the "outrages of the leadership," we learned a week before receiving the collective letter — on the day when two young violinists with conservatory education resigned, or rather were forced to resign due to the non-renewal of their contracts. And the couple was immediately "invited with open arms" to Kaliningrad.

      "We are truly very sorry that there continues to be such a high turnover of staff in the string group of the local orchestra, especially in the first violins group. But from our side, it would be inappropriate to make public comments about the reasons for the resignations and even more so to talk about the 'internal kitchen.' After all, unfortunately, in this situation, it is impossible to reach the leadership and change anything," wrote the violinist, bidding farewell to Kirov. Whose level of education turned out to be "above the framework of the orchestra and Philharmonic leadership."

      "And smart people are not liked in Vyatka — they are driven out," the orchestra members stated in their letter. They believe this is the fate of those who try to fight for their rights.

      "Under Derbilov, salaries were significantly raised, becoming higher than the average in Russia. A decision was made to provide additional payments to non-residents for housing rental... What has happened now? Why did all the good things in 2025-2026 end in collapse?" the authors of the letter ask.

      By the way, it was in 2025 that the chief conductor of the Vyatka Provincial Symphony Orchestra, Ilya Derbilov, was "expelled" from the Philharmonic. He was appointed as the artistic director and chief conductor of the choir of the State Academic Capella of St. Petersburg (on par with the Mariinsky Theater) this January.

      The "Kirov cultural courtyard" also did not welcome Yaroslav Andronov, now the former director of the Philharmonic, who is currently the deputy director of the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army.

      And the expulsion of professionals, as reported in the letter, immediately affected the orchestra's repertoire. From the letter: "For the New Year's concerts, the 'diva' Alena Timofeeva was invited, who for several evenings in a row made a spectacle on the Philharmonic stage — showing more of her underwear than hitting the notes.

      "Coming to a symphonic music concert with a child, I did not plan to pay two thousand for a ticket to watch the soloist's underwear... A cabaret option, a night club," one of the regular visitors of the Philharmonic said after that concert.

      However, as the artists write, what can one expect if the current director of the orchestra, Ekaterina Shelest, has no musical education at all?