International jazz festival begins here

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The 7th international jazz festival titled "Great Steppe Jazz" Tuesday started in the UB Jazz club, Ulaanbaatar city. The festival is co-organized by the National Commission of Mongolia for the UNESCO, "Great Steppe" NGO, the city's Department of Arts and Culture, the US Embassy in Mongolia, the Embassy of Czech Republic, the Cultural Center of France in Mongolia and the "Goethe" Institute. It has brought together jazz artists from the USA, Germany, the Republic of Korea, the Czech Republic and Scotland of the Great Britain; some special guests of the groups such as the Latino Jazz, Voice and Toys, Martin Zenker, Quentin Baxter and Friends, UB jazz; and artists from the Academic Ensemble of Mongolian Military Song and Dance. Within the international festival, the jazz musicians will perform at the College of Music and Choreography, the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture, the American School of Ulaanbaatar, the "Shine ekhlel" secondary schools and some children's care centers. To last until October 10, the festival's main purposes are to propagandize education of jazz art to the public, to have youths express their interests for peace and democracy in a scope of the UNESCO's goals through the art, to increase their participation, and to expand the ties between Mongolian and international artists.