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Concord Acquires Classical Russian and Soviet Publisher Sikorski

Sikorski will sit alongside Concord's Boosey & Hawkes classical unit, which shares a history of engagement with music written by Soviet-era composers.

Concord has acquired the Sikorski Music Publishing Group, a German-based classical publisher with a trove of Russian and Soviet-era copyrights.

That includes masterworks by composers like Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofieff, Aram Khachaturian, Dmitri Kabalevsky and Alfred Schnittke. Sikorski also works with active composers including Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli and Lera Auerbach on a wide range of projects, from chamber and orchestral music to operas, ballets and music for children.

Under the agreement, Sikorski will sit alongside Concord’s Boosey & Hawkes classical unit, which shares a history of engagement with music written by Soviet-era composers. 

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“The union of Boosey & Hawkes and Sikorski under the Concord family of companies is a real signal to the continued value of classical repertoire,” comments John Minch, the long-term head of Boosey & Hawkes and President of Concord, Europe. “Concord is now at a moment to bring further investment and commitment to not only these evergreen catalogues, but the next generation of composers and the wider classical sector too.

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Concord COO Glen Barros adds that the acquisition is a “big step” toward the company’s key strategic goals — to build its classical catalog and expand internationally.

“We very much believe in the market for classical music and plan to further expand our presence in this genre,” he says. “Further, we are looking for opportunities to expand our presence in Europe and other international markets. As a result, the acquisition of the Sikorski business really is a perfect fit.”

Adds Dagmar Sikorski, the managing partner for the Sikorski group and its majority shareholder: “We could not have found a better home for our family’s legacy classical assets. Our decades-long, deep relationships with our composers is something of which we are highly protective, and we are confident that these composers will be well looked after by the Concord and Boosey teams. We also want to acknowledge the significant efforts of [financial advisor] Lisbeth Barron, who brought our two companies together and worked over many months to get the transaction across the finish line.”