The Slavyanka Male Russian Chorus regularly presents
a cappella concerts in
the San Francisco Bay Area and California. The repertoire is drawn mostly from
Russian sources: Orthodox liturgical, Russian and other slavic folk and composed music.
It includes
compositions by Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and a host of less well-known purveyors
of the Slavic soul in song.
Slavyanka
is the name that the early Russian settlers
in California gave to the river that is today known as the Russian River.
The Slavyanka Male Chorus was formed in 1979 by several former members of the
Yale Russian Chorus.
Membership has varied from twenty to thirty men, all with other primary occupations ranging from business
and the trades to law, science and medicine.
The chorus toured the former Soviet Union in 1986, 1989 and 1999, where it performed for
historically its largest and most appreciative audiences.
In May of 2009, Slavyanka celebrated its 30th year. Male alumni and other friends came from all over the US. Video highlights of the concert are available at (click here) Moving Camera.com
The founding director of Slavyanka Paul Andrews, who led the group from 1979 until 1991, returns
to lead the Chorus starting in January, 2012. Welcome back, Paul!
From July, 1997 to December 2011Slavyanka's Music Director was
Gregory Smirnov, formerly music director in Pskov, Russia, before migrating to the US, in 1992.
Slavyanka has released seven recordings including two on the
Dorian label, and two on
Harmonia Mundi USA
. Many are available at larger retail outlets, but may also be ordered through
Slavyanka Russian Male Chorus
from
In February 1993, the chorus performed the world premiere of the
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom by
Konstantin Nikolaevich Shvedov (1886-1954).
Slavyanka's recording of that work is now available
in a new CD release by Dorian Recordings.
In 1994, Slavyanka provided 4 cuts for the soundtrack of
"Little Odessa"
In July, 1997 Slavyanka was filmed singing Gregory Smirnovs' arrangement of the
"Jesus Prayer" by Alfred Schnittke
in
"What Dreams May Come" (released 1998)
with Robin Williams,
Max Von Sydow,
Annabella Sciorra and Cuba Gooding,Jr.
Directed by Vincent Ward ("Map of the Human Heart", "The Navigator".)
Polygram/Interscope/Metafilmics
Slavyanka Russian Male Chorus is seeking new members, especially high tenors and low basses.
Russian language ability is not required. Rehearsals are 7:30 to 10pm
Tuesday evenings at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Turk and Baker,
San Francisco.
For an audition appointment, contact our director, Paul Andrews, 510-798-7966.
Mail List
To be placed on the mailing list for concert announcements,
send name, e-mail address and postal address to:
Jay Kuhlman
2554 Vineyard Road
Novato CA 94947
tel: 415-897-6578
Privacy Policy: while Slavyanka Russian Male Chorus has occasionally allowed other, usually similar vocal groups its one-time use,
we have never sold our mailing list and have no plans to do so in the future.
Cyrillic Web.
Unicode Cyrillic lyrics for a number of songs in the Slavyanka repertoire (No 'russification' required)
and
instructions for getting your Windows browser to display Cyrillic characters:
