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, we have some new and extraordinary programs planned for 2022 and 2023. For 2022 in February, we’ll bring you a potpourri of beloved popular Russian music from the last 80 years. In June, a concert of Slavyanka’s greatest hits! In November, we’ll premier a major liturgical masterwork by Konstantin Shvedov, a wonderful Russian composer almost completely unknown in the West, whose uniquely powerful liturgical writing is from the same school that produced Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy and Vespers. In the Spring of 2023, in collaboration with contemporary composers in Russia, you can hear us in a concert series devoted to the great spiritual compositions of Russia’s 20th century, when writing in Russia for the church remained largely impossible, and the spiritual impulse found new ways of expression.. We continue our rehearsals via video/audio conferencing, Jamulus networked music performance software and Estill vocal skills training to be prepared for concert performances.
CONTACT US here at anytime. Financial support, at this time, is especially appreciated. Donations can be considered and made here DONATE. Members can pay dues here MEMBER DUES.
All can access Slavyanka Chorus Recordings here ARCHIVE.
| Events & Concerts |
Russian Diaspora
The Sacred Music and Spiritual Legacy of the Russian Emigration
CLICK HERE to begin the recording.
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 were so honored to perform at the wedding of Raj and Alexandra June 12, 2021 at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego. Многая лета / Mnogaya leta / Many, many years to the new, happy couple! Thank you so much for letting us provide the music for your beautiful wedding. — in San Diego, California.
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