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January 12, 2001

Contact: Stephanie Grant
Public Relations Manager
(215) 573-8537/sgrant@ac.upenn.edu

PHILADELPHIA, PA - "Sacred Works from Russian Voices" is how New York Times’ music critic James Oestreich describes the incredible all-male a cappella choir, Chorovaya Akademia, led by Artistic Director and Conductor Alexander Sedov. Founded in Moscow in 1989 under Sedov, the 14-member ensemble draws upon Russia’s superb thousand year tradition of choral music, and exists to "champion" the exceptional repertoire of the Russian Orthodox Church alongside secular works of the last three centuries by some of Russia’s greatest composers, including those by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. PENN Presents concludes its Classical Music Series with this powerful ensemble on Saturday, March 24, 2001, in the University of Pennsylvania’s Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. The choir will commence singing at 8:00 p.m. The program features classical favorites from composers Chesnokov, Sviridov, Nikolsky, Saint-Saëns, Feit and Vogel, along with several traditional Russian folk songs. Tickets are $32, $28 and $24. There are discounts available for seniors, students, groups, and University of Pennsylvania faculty, staff and alumni. For tickets call (215) 898-3900. They may also be ordered online through www.PENNPresents.org. For group discounts, call (215) 898-6789.

The Los Angeles Times noted the exceptional skill of the choir, stating that their performance was "…a compelling mixture of power and mystery. The singers’ exacting unity and precise sectional balance intensified these qualities." It is no wonder, since every member of the ensemble is a professional musician – virtually all are graduates of the Moscow or St. Petersburg conservatories. Each one is also deeply committed to the dying art of choral singing. The choir has been heralded for its brilliant technique, its wide range of vocal timbres and its impassioned interpretations.

Chorovaya Akademia’s repertoire includes both ecclesiastical and secular works from different historical periods, from ancient chants to the most complex polyphony. Its liturgical repertoire emphasizes the rich tradition of Russian orthodox music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably the composers associated with the Moscow Synodal School, a choral academy that later merged with the Moscow Conservatory. The choir’s secular repertoire includes compositions by Russian composers such as Sergei Taneyev and Borodin, as well as genre and folk pieces from the comic to the meditative. Chorovaya Akademia also performs choral works of Western composers like Schubert, Saint-Saens and Gershwin, as well as a number of contemporary composers.

The Chorovaya Akademia has performed extensively throughout Russia and Europe, winning numerous awards along the way. Its debut American tour in 1993 was met with exceptional acclaim, and in 1997 the choir was awarded two gold medals and the grand prize at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. The choir has recorded for Le Chant du Monde and RCA Victor Red Seal, which released the best-selling Ancient Echoes album in 1995. Many of its concerts have been recorded for radio and television broadcasts.

This concert is sponsored in part by the Philadelphia Music Project, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, administered by Settlement Music School.

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