 Two ensembles from Russia will appear in the Performing Arts Center this week: the Trio Voronezh in Ramsey Hall on Feb. 26 and the Chorovaya Akademia in Hodgson Hall on Feb. 27. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m.
Although classically trained at the conservatory at Voronezh, the members of Trio Voronezh started their careers playing in the streets, subways and small clubs of European cities. In 1995 Helmuth Rilling, an internationally renowned conductor and Bach specialist, heard the trio playing in a Frankfurt subway station and invited them to participate in the 1996 Oregon Bach Festival. They were the sleeper hit of the festival, selling out three concerts. Since then they have returned to the festival and also made concert appearances in Europe.
The trio performs on traditional Russian instruments. Vladimir Volochin plays the domra, a three-stringed long-necked lute that is a predecessor to the balalaika. It has been used as a solo instrument in Russia since the 15th century and is often used in folk music ensembles today. Volochin is the Russian National Champion of the All-Russian Domra Competition.
Sergei Teleschev has won many regional prizes in Russia for his talent on the bajan, which he has been playing since he was six. The bajan is a chromatic-button accordion with various registers, which the musician changes with the chin.
Valeri Petruchin plays the double-bass balalaika, the three-stringed Russian national instrument, which is known for the resonance of its triangular fir body. Petruchin arranges the compositions for the trio.
The Trio Voronezh will announce the program for the concert from the stage. They plan to include Russian folk and dance music along with works by a range of classical composers.
 The Chorovaya Akademia is a male a capella choir, founded in Moscow in 1989 under the direction of Alexander Sedov. The group has been applauded for brilliant technique, impassioned interpretations and a wide range of vocal timbres.
Their repertoire includes both ecclesiastical and secular works from different historical periods, from ancient chants to complex polyphony. In this concert they will perform Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 31; Anton Viskov’s Songs of the Cossack’s Land; Sergei Taneyev’s Apparitions, Op. 35; Borodin’s The Sea; Saint-Saëns’s Winter Serenade; Schubert’s Wein und Liebe; Viacheslav Feit’s The Beetle and the Rose; Charles-Louis Adolphe Vogel’s Waltz of the Hussars; and several Russian folk songs.
The choir has toured throughout Europe, Japan, Mexico and the United States, and has recorded for Le Chant du Monde and RCA Victor Red Seal, which released the best-selling “Ancient Echoes” in 1995.
A free pre-concert lecture will be given by David Kerans of the UGA history department at 7:15 p.m. in Ramsey Hall. Tickets for the Trio Voronezh are $16, for the Chorovaya Akademia $16–$20. They are available at the box office in the Performing Arts Center (542-4400). |
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