'Music, Sport Unite People:' Jazz legend Butman marks World Cup end with concert at the Russian Embassy in DC

The Russian Embassy in the United States has marked the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a concert by Russian saxophone virtuoso Igor Butman and the Igor Butman Quintet.
Minister-Counselor of the Russian Embassy in the United States Dmitry Zhirnov congratulated representatives of the French Embassy on France’s win in the World Cup final and presented them with a special gift.
Butman, who was a World Cup ambassador for one of the host cities — Saransk, is currently on a world tour and could not attend the final match.
"Today, at this event we celebrate the end of the World Cup and the winners," he said. "Today’s evening is really special."
Butman noted that during the final game he was at the airport, where everyone was watching the game.
Butman also pointed out that this year’s FIFA World Cup helped break stereotypes about Russia.
"People have seen that Russia is kind, beautiful, not aggressive, and responsible," he explained.
Besides, Butman added, the World Cup showed that there are a lot of great teams like Croatia, the new English team, the young France team, Belgium and, of course, Russia, who played excellently.
The event was organized and held with the support of Susan Carmel, chairperson of the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation, and the Sustained Dialogue Institute.
Carmel told reporters that she was honored to organize the event featuring Butman to "celebrate both the unifying excitement of the World Cup and the sharing spirit of cultural exchange."
"The World Cup is certainly cultural, it involves so many nations. I saw for myself when I was in Russia how wonderful everything was run," Carmel said. "Everyone was commenting on the incredible Russian hospitality that they received and I myself, and the group that I was with the same thing, it was very impressive."
Carmel also pointed out the spirit of camaraderie and friendship in Russia during the games among the people from many different countries.
"Everyone was there for one reason to share one event. What the Soccer World Cup did particularly in Russia and the way it was run was bring people together from so many countries," she stressed.
Butman’s performance was accompanied by a slideshow of highlights from the 2018 FIFA World Cup championships.
Many guests of the event came in their countries jerseys. Russian, Argentine, German, Turkish and many others could be seen during the event. The halls of the embassy were decorated in football theme: with Zabivaka wolves and balls on the tables, and banners with Russia’s host cities of 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Zabivaka mascot greeted guests and posed for pictures with them.