Reinhart Kraus, (from 2003–2006 Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Saint Petersburg), keeps an active concert schedule in many countries as a soloist and ensemble member. Reinhart Kraus’ first Saint Petersburg concert appearance took place in the Conservatoire’s Glazunov Hall on 17 October 2003. That night’s programme “To Russia with Love” featured R. Kraus with Saint Petersburg’s leading chamber musicians — V. Ovcharek, A. Stang, and S. Roldugin — in a performance of J. Haydn’s op. 33, “Russian Quartets”. At Reinhart Kraus’s initiative, two Franz Krommer quartets for bassoon, two violas and cello (op. 46) were performed for the first time in Saint Petersburg in 2004 and in April 2005 the works of Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Shubert, and Mendelssohn were performed in the programme “Salve Regina”. Reinhart Kraus’ artistic credo is found in the words of Yehudi Menuhin “Art is the hope of humanity”.