Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, tr. Sankt-Peterburg; IPA: [sankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk] ( listen)) is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. In 1914 the name of the city was changed to Petrograd (Russian: Петроград; IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat]), in 1924 to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград; IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgrat]) and in 1991 back to Saint Petersburg.

In Russian literature, informal documents, and discourse, the "Saint" (Санкт-) is usually omitted, leaving Petersburg (Петербург, Peterburg). In common parlance Russians may drop "-burg" (-бург) as well, leaving only Peter (Питер, Russian: [ˈpʲitʲɪr]).

Saint Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27 [O.S. 16] 1703. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia. In 1918 the central government bodies moved from Saint Petersburg (then named Petrograd) to Moscow. It is Russia's second largest city after Moscow with almost 5 million inhabitants. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and also an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.

Vadim Repin (Vadim Viktorovich Repin, Вадим Викторович Репин [vɐˈdim ˈviktɐrvitʃ ˈrepin], born in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, 31 August 1971) is a Belgian (naturalized) Russian violinist who currently lives in Austria.

Yehudi Menuhin once said that "Vadim Repin is simply the best and most perfect violinist that I have ever had the chance to hear."

Vadim Repin began to play the violin at the age of 5. He went on to study with Zakhar Bron, the famous violin teacher. At only eleven, he won the gold medal in all age categories in the Wienawski Competition and gave his recital débuts in Moscow and St Petersburg. In 1985 at fourteen he made his débuts in Tokyo, München, Berlin, Helsinki; a year later in Carnegie Hall.

At the age of 17, he became the youngest winner of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels, the world's premier violin competition. He was a member of the jury in the 2009 violin-session of this competition.

Vadim Repin has played under such leading conductors as Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, and Yehudi Menuhin. He has also played with Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas (with whom he made his United Kingdom debut at The Lichfield Festival in 1985), James Levine, Kurt Masur, Edo de Waart, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Riccardo Muti.

Valery Abisalovich Gergiev PAR (Russian: Валерий Абисалович Гергиев, Ossetic: Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери/Gergity Abisaly Fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.

Gergiev, born in Moscow, is the son of Tamara Tatarkanovna and Abisal Zaurbekovich. He and his siblings were raised in Vladikavkaz in their native North Ossetia in the Caucasus. He began piano at secondary school, before going on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Leningrad from 1972 to 1977. His principal conducting teacher was Prof. Ilya Musin (Илья Мусин), one of the greatest conductor-makers in Russian musical history. His sister, Larissa Gergieva, is a pianist and director of the Mariinsky's singers' academy.

In 1978, he became assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera, now the Mariinsky Opera, under Yuri Temirkanov, where he made his debut conducting Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace. He was chief conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1981 until 1985 – the year he made his debut in the United Kingdom, along with pianist Evgeny Kissin, and violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin, at The Lichfield Festival.

Enter Shikari are a British rock/hardcore group that combine post-hardcore and various heavy metal sub-genres such as metalcore and alternative metal with elements of various electronic genres such as electronica, dubstep, trance and occasionally drum and bass creating a very strong electronicore sound, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of which are named Shikari. Shikari also means 'Hunter' in Marathi, Persian, Hindi, Nepali, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. Their debut album, Take to the Skies was released on 19 March 2007 and reached #4 in the Official UK Album Chart. Their second album, titled Common Dreads, was released on 15 June 2009 and debuted on the UK Albums Chart at 16. Their third studio album, A Flash Flood of Colour was released on 16 January 2012 and was positioned at the top of the UK Album Chart for almost its entire week of release, however it eventually debuted on the chart at 4. The band are currently embarking on the A Flash Flood of Colour World Tour.