Yuri and Ksenia Wheelman bring two voices, cinematic music and visual storytelling to La Dolce Vita at Ca’ Sagredo during the Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, ITALY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2026
Some musical partnerships begin with a casting, others with a producer or a recording studio. The story of Yuri and Ksenia Wheelman began in the artistic world of the Bolshoi Theatre. Today, Wheelman Duo has transformed those classical roots into something deliberately contemporary. Their international crossover project Lumière combines operatic discipline, two distinctive voices, cinematic repertoire, movement and visual presentation, creating performances designed not simply to accompany an evening, but to become one of its defining moments. On 11 September, that concept will arrive at Ca’ Sagredo for La Dolce Vita, the Royal Gentlemen Gala Dinner and Congress Awards taking place during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
Wheelman Duo describes its artistic identity through Couture Crossover, an approach that treats a performance almost like a made-to-measure creation. Yuri and Ksenia work with the atmosphere, architecture and character of an event rather than reproducing the same concert format from one stage to another. Their repertoire and performance style have taken them to distinguished international settings in Monaco, France and Italy, including Monte-Carlo, Cannes, Capri and Lake Como. Their 2026 programme also connects them directly with Venice during the Film Festival, making La Dolce Vita a natural continuation of a season shaped by some of Europe’s most internationally visible destinations.
Cinema is particularly close to the language of Wheelman Duo. Iconic film music forms part of their repertoire, but the connection goes further than familiar melodies. Their performances are constructed around the same elements that give cinema its emotional power, voice, image, movement, atmosphere and timing. In Venice, where cinema temporarily changes the rhythm of an entire city, this approach finds an unusually appropriate stage. The world’s oldest international film festival has spent generations introducing audiences to actors, directors and new visual languages. Wheelman Duo brings that idea into live music, asking how classical vocal technique can exist inside a contemporary visual experience.
Their artistic interests also extend beyond the stage. As Art Ambassadors of Blue Alliance Monaco, Yuri and Ksenia are developing Echo of the Ocean, an audiovisual project bringing together music, imagery, artificial intelligence and ocean protection. The project reflects another side of their work, where performance becomes a way to communicate ideas about nature and responsibility. In Venice, a city whose identity and future are inseparable from water, that connection acquires an additional meaning.
The musical landscape of La Dolce Vita will move far beyond crossover. Award-winning soprano Alina Zamalieva will represent the grand European opera tradition. Recipient of more than 15 honours, she became a laureate of the Covent Garden Opera Competition with the London City Philharmonic and received First Prize at the VI International Music Festival in Vienna. She later won the opportunity to study at the Belcanto Academy with legendary Italian soprano Mirella Freni and has appeared on stages across Europe and Asia. Rezeda Kalimullina will bring a contrasting world of soul, jazz and pop. With 25 years of stage experience, her artistic development has included mentorship from multiple Grammy-nominated American vocalist, pianist and composer Karen Edwards, whose career has included performances with Stevie Wonder, Prince and Tony Bennett.
What makes the Venice performance unusual is also the room in which these artists will sing. Ca’ Sagredo is not a theatre built around a conventional stage. Recognised as a National Monument, the centuries-old palace rises directly from the Grand Canal, with its monumental staircase, frescoed salons and historic art creating a naturally theatrical environment. For Wheelman Duo, whose performances depend as much on atmosphere and visual storytelling as on vocal technique, the palace becomes part of the production itself.
The audience will be equally distinctive. Eric Adams, the 110th Mayor of New York City from 2022 to 2025, will join Laurent Anselmi, President of the Monaco Sea Academy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and later Chief of Staff to H.S.H. Prince Albert II. Egyptian actress Caroline Azmi will represent contemporary cinema and television. Massimiliano Giobergia, General Manager of Cosmetic Tailors, the principal private-label division of BEAUTICON VALLEY, will represent the international beauty industry.
Lidia Weber, Director of Special Projects at Oliver Weber Collection, will introduce another visual element as the Austrian jewellery house joins La Dolce Vita as Official Jewellery Partner and presents its new Dolce Vita Collection created with Swarovski crystals. Alisa Roever, founder of Angels Helpers Foundation, will represent philanthropy and initiatives supporting children, education, culture and young talent. Media and entertainment entrepreneur Al Kash will complete the international circle through projects spanning publishing, production, talent management, modelling and luxury events.
Thomas Misse and Marek Harmony of the Royal Gentlemen Club, together with Anna Stukkert, founder and president of the Congress Awards, have built the evening around precisely this collision of different worlds. The Congress Awards network has connected more than 4,000 participants from 29 countries since 2016 through events in Munich, Berlin, Monaco, Paris, Cannes and Davos, with its 20th edition celebrated in Cannes in 2026.
For Wheelman Duo, La Dolce Vita offers something different from a traditional concert appearance. Two artists whose story grew from the discipline of the Bolshoi Theatre will perform in a Venetian palace during one of cinema’s most international weeks, surrounded by opera, film, diplomacy, fashion, philanthropy and business. It is exactly the kind of environment for which Couture Crossover was created, a place where music does not remain on the stage but becomes part of the entire evening.
ROYAL GENTLEMEN GALA DINNER AND CONGRESS AWARDS
Friday, 11 September 2026 | 6.30 pm | Ca’ Sagredo Hotel, Venice | Black Tie
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Royal Gentlemen Club | Thomas Misse and Marek Harmony | Congress Awards founded by Anna Stukkert | Official Jewellery Partner Oliver Weber Collection
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