I am extending my most profound appreciation to Valery Abisalovich's team and to each participant who chose the memory of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky over the trials they encountered on their journey to Moscow and St. Petersburg. This award will be your constant companion, a symbol of your achievement that will resonate at every performance, on every stage, for you are now laureates of the Tchaikovsky competition.
I salute your perseverance, your courage, and your triumph. With us, these two memorable weeks were witnessed by an astounding 50 million people from 102 countries, all tuning in online! This, indeed, is the pinnacle of our journey, a victory that we share together.

This competition is of supreme importance. Its profound impact is challenging, if not altogether impossible, to overestimate. Here, we have awarded laureates from Russia and the United States, Russia and South Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom, Russia and France. Russia opens its arms to the most brilliant young musicians. It demonstrates the extraordinary, I would venture to say, invincible power of music. Hence, it is impossible to tailor music to any particular process.

Our audience and jury members are international. And all of them are fervent admirers of the works of Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev. This mutual admiration brings us together; we do not seek ways to differentiate ourselves from others. On the contrary, we always coexist in one shared, inseparable space.