Slavyanka Russian Chorus
Welcome to our Chorus website. Use the Menu to explore who we are, our history, what we do, review our 40 glorious years of concerts, listen to selections of our recorded music and recent full concert videos. Meanwhile while we all mutually struggle with the COVID 19 pandemic, our concert schedule is unknown. We continue our rehearsals via video/audio conferencing to be prepared for concert performances beginning, hopefully in late 2020 or early 2021. CONTACT US here at anytime. Financial support, at this time, is especially appreciated. Donations can be considered and made here DONATE.
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| APRIL 22, 2021 - 6:30 PM On Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 6:30 PM Pacific Time, Slavyanka Chorus hosted an evening webinar with one of the world’s most respected scholars of Russian liturgical music, Dr. Vladimir Morosan. This was an extraordinary opportunity to dive deep into the heart of the Russian musical tradition through the lens of Orthodox Holy Week. We are pleased to share a full recording of the webinar with you here: Welcome Dr. Vladimir Morosan This year, Orthodox Holy Week is celebrated from April 26th through May 1st. Unlike the Western tradition of the “Passions,” the Eastern Orthodox Church has its own way of re-living the Passion of Christ through its cycle of liturgical services and its vast richness of liturgical hymns. Our webinar on April 22nd explored this musical repertoire, drawing upon examples from various styles.. In addition to his writing, Dr. Morosan is also Founder and President of Musica Russica, a publishing company specializing in the publication and dissemination of Orthodox choral music throughout the Western world. He is also the Director of the “Orthodox Sacred Music Reference Library” Project (www.orthodoxchoral.org), the largest scholarly online library of Orthodox music. |
Russia Victory Day
May 9, 2021. Victory Day, an annual celebration, marks Germany's surrender to the Soviet Union in 1945. It became the end of the Great Patriotic War for the USSR, which lost about 25 million citizens in four years of fighting. It is a day to remember the enormous suffering and the immense price that was paid by Russians to save the world from Adolf Hitler’s fascist regime. We can never repay the debt we owe to all those of every country who died in that cause. This year Slavyanaka Chorus, in honor of their memory, performed and recorded Zhuravli, one of the most famous Russian songs about World War II, first performed in 1969 by Mark Bernes. This was our first recording after a year of not rehearsing together in person. The version recorded was orchestrated by Bettina Gray, and features soloist René Mineboo. It was rehearsed and recorded in real time online using Jamulus software. Ron Cohen was sound engineer for the project.
We are a community of singers, alumni singers, supporters, and listeners – people like you who come because they love and are moved by what they hear.
For 34 years, the Chorus was a men's chorus that was joined on occasion by female soloists and women's ensembles.
In 2013,, the Chorus officially expanded to include women. Our repertoire now includes music for mixed ensemble and women's voices, as well as distinctive men's choral pieces.
The Chorus performs extensively in the Bay Area (around 12 concerts annually), and was privileged to be invited to tour and perform in the former Soviet Union and Russia in 1986, 1989, 1999, and 2016.
The Chorus has released eight albums, has appeared on Bay Area television segments, contributed to the PBS documentary Spirit of a People, A New Portrait of Russia, and has recorded music for several movies: Tell Me a Riddle (1980), Little Odessa (1994), and What Dreams May Come (1998).
The Chorus' Artistic Director is Irina Shachneva (2012-present). Former directors include Paul Andrews (1979-1991; interim 2012), Alexei Shipovalnikov (1991-1997), and Gregory Smirnov (1997-2011).
A Board of Directors, Managers and volunteers manage the Chorus