The “Martsishor” Festival is close to its 47th edition. Minister of Culture Boris Focsa said that this edition will be very rich owing to the invitees. According to him, spring will come later for those who will not see at least one concert within the festival. “Martsishor 2013” will take place during March 1-10, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on February 25, the minister said that the festival will take place at four institutions of culture, namely the National Palace “Nicolae Sulac”, the National Philharmonic “Sergey Lunkevich”, the Organ Hall, and the National Opera House “Maria Biesu”. Invitees from Transnistria will take part in the festival for the first time this year. A series of concerts will be staged in the Transnistrian region. The festival will be opened at the National Palace “Nicolae Sulac” on March 1, at 6pm. The first concert will involve the orchestra of the national public company “Teleradio-Moldova” and the orchestra of the Advahov Brothers, the dance sport club “Codreanca” and the national folk ensemble ”Transilvania” from Romania. The National Philharmonic “Sergey Lunkevich” will host 11 concerts, starting with March 2. There will perform the folk music and dances ensemble “Viorica” from Tiraspol and the strings quintet “Arabesque”, also from Transnistria. Six concerts will take place at the Organ Hall, while five at the National Opera House. The organizers of the festival said that Russian artist Natalia Gutman agreed to come to Chisinau after five years of negotiations. Mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova will also come to Moldova for the first time. Artists from Ukraine, Romania, and Switzerland are expected to take part in the festival. The tickets to the concerts will cost between 30 and 180 lei. Only the tickets to the commercial concerts given by Stefan Banica Jr and Jasmin will be dearer.