Valery Gergiev said he is dedicated to bringing more American artists to Russia and he sees music as an instrument of harmony between the United States and Russia. Gergiev came to see a film about himself at the Russian Embassy last night. The film, entitled, "You Cannot Start without Me," was directed by Academy Award winner Alan Miller and offered an intimate look into the demanding life of the celebrated Russian conductor, who has been in Washington conducting the Mariinsky opera and ballet at the Kennedy Center. Gergiev, whose unshaven face is his trademark, sat in the plush upholstered seats in the Embassy's theater surrounded by vips and watched as the scenes of his life growing up in Russia, or conducting planning meetings with artists and his staff backstage at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersberg, or travelling by train throughout Russia, or conducting orchestras all over the world rolled by. Valery showed enormous promise as a young boy growing up in the Caucasus, the high mountains, which shaped him and inspired him with their awesome snowcapped glory. He said one could almost hear the voices of grandfathers speaking in the winds of those mountains. His father died when he was only eleven but young Valery's enormous talent on the piano sustained him and gave him a way to prove his worth to his father. By the time he was 16 he realized he had been given the gift of comprehending how the various parts on the page--violins, cellos, brass, French horns, English horns, violins, tympani, all fit together as a whole. That gift has propelled him to the pinnacle of the conducting field and brought him fame and fortune. The camera focused on his sweetness as a father of two young boys and a little girl, but Gergieve explains that he regrets he has little time to spend with the children because he is travelling the world conducting a different piece every day. "What do you want to be when you grow up," he asks his five year old son who is sitting on his knee? "I want to drive an Ocean liner. A big one," the boy replies to Gergiev's amusement. The film portrayed Gergiev's intensity and charisma as he conducts Stravinsky or Wagner, weilding his baton with animal passion and ferocity. "The process is very alive," he said of conducting. "It's unpredictable." Gergiev is worried that the live classical concert may be lost on future generations who live by the Ipod. He is working to interest young people in music all over the world.