He has experienced many spiritual and material ups and downs.
The most significant of them, which occurred in the XX-XXI centuries, are:
- complete evacuation of the monastery from the Valaam archipelago deep into Finland during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940;
- the ruin and oblivion of the monastery that followed for many decades;
- the return of the monastery to the Russian Orthodox Church and the beginning of its spiritual revival and restoration in December 1989;
- the final restoration and consecration by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of the main Valaam shrine - the Transfiguration Cathedral in August 2005. In connection with this event, with the blessing of the hegumen of the Valaam monastery, Bishop Pankratii of Trinity, a professional male choir of the monastery was organized.

Compound

The choir includes professional musicians from St. Petersburg, graduates of the Choir School at the State Academic Capella. M. I. Glinka and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, certified conductors and vocalists, leading singers of vocal, choir groups and musical theaters of St. Petersburg. Among them are Honored Artists of the Republic of Karelia Mikhail Kruglov (b. 1972, bass profundo) and Dmitry Popov (b. 1967, counter-tenor), laureates of international competitions Alexander Bordak (b. 1973, tenor) and Boris Petrov (b. . in 1984, baritone). Permanent creative partners of the choir are Honored Artist of Russia Vladimir Miller (b. 1964), soloist of the State Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg Vladimir Tselebrovsky, soloist of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia Stanislav Mostovoy, soloist of the State St. Petersburg Musical Theater "Through the Looking Glass" Anton Rositsky. The average age of the choir members is 35 years.

With the blessing of the abbot

The choir of the Valaam Monastery is a unique creative team whose activities are connected with the direct blessings of the abbot of the Valaam Monastery, Bishop Pankratii of Trinity. The choir is simultaneously a liturgical-singing and concert creative group. He participates in festive divine services at the Valaam Compound in St. Petersburg. The temple of the courtyard is the only place in the city where authentic ancient Russian chants are performed according to the old custom “antiphonally” (alternately) for two “faces” and one common choir together. The team accompanies Patriarchal services on Valaam, solemn receptions on the island of the President and members of the Government of the Russian Federation, and other high-ranking guests of the monastery. During the summer pilgrimage season, the singers of the choir help the brethren of the Valaam Monastery sing and give charity concerts, acquainting numerous guests of the monastery with the traditions of Valaam church singing.

Concert activity

The choir began in 2007 with a performance at a solemn meeting of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by E. M. Primakov. In May 2008, the choir gave a solo concert in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari as part of the Festival of Russian Art in Italy, organized on the personal initiative of Vladimir Putin and S. Berlusconi. Solo performances of the choir took place at the most prestigious academic concert venues in Russia - in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg, in the Concert Hall. P. I. Tchaikovsky Philharmonic, in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, in the International House of Music of Moscow. The choir's tours took place in Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, Tambov, Ryazan, in all major cities of the Northwestern Federal District (Arkhangelsk, Petrozavodsk, Murmansk, Vologda, Pskov, Veliky Novgorod, Syktyvkar), in Minsk, in Almaty. Since 2013, the choir has been organizing and performing a Christmas concert every year in early January in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the first of which gathered about 6,000 listeners. The choir was the first Russian performer to create a special program dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War - FORGOTTEN WAR, and presented it in January 2014 on the stage of the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg. In January 2015, at the invitation of People's Artist of the USSR Vladimir Spivakov and Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk, the choir took part in the 5th Moscow Christmas Festival of Sacred Music on the stage of the MIDM, presenting the program "The Light of Christ Enlightens Everyone!". At various times, many well-known performers have been and remain creative partners of the choir: People's Artists of the USSR Alibek Dnishev and Roza Rymbaeva, People's Artist of the RSFSR Lev Leshchenko, People's Artists of Russia Vasily Gerello and Dmitry Malikov, Elena Vaenga. From the end of January 2016, the concert tour of the Light of Valaam choir began, within which more than 80 concerts have already taken place in different cities of Russia. On May 2, 2016 in Moscow, on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace, the choir presented the program "Faith and Victory" with the participation of Hieromonk Photius and People's Artist of Russia Oleg Pogudin.

Supported by the Timchenko Foundation

Since December 2012, the concert and liturgical activities of the choir have been carried out with the support of Charitable Foundation of Gennady and Elena Timchenko . The first public and charity concert of the choir, organized under the program of the Foundation, took place in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg on January 10, 2013 and gathered about 6,000 listeners. The choir presented the Christmas program "Christ is born, glorify" together with the professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, protodeacon Andrey Kuraev .

Repertoire

The leading idea of ​​the choir's concert work is cultural and educational activities and spiritual and patriotic education through the creation, concert performances, recordings and publications of musical-historical, memorial and thematic programs. The extremely wide repertoire of the choir is reflected in them. "From Byzantium to Russia" - liturgical singing of Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, ancient Russian spolp and early partes chants. “The majestic tones of Valaam” are the original melodies of the Valaam Monastery and their polyphonic presentations. "Russian Spiritual Concerto" - spiritual compositions of Russian classics of large form (Bortnyansky, Degtyarev, Arkhangelsky). "Melodies of the Russian Soul" - Russian folk songs and romances (Alyabyev, Bulakhov, Vertinsky), songs of the Russian army and the Cossacks of the XIX-XX centuries, lyrical and patriotic songs of the Soviet period (Soloviev-Sedoi, Ponomarenko, Afanasiev). "The Forgotten War" - original hymns, songs and romances of the First World War, Russian classical and modern sacred music. "Faith and Victory" - Easter hymns of Russian classics and contemporary Russian composers (Rakhmaninov, Chesnokov, Bordak), songs about the Great Patriotic War (Migula, Tukhmanov, Molchanov). "The light of Christ enlightens all!" - Old Russian and Valaam chants of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas songs from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, England, France, Argentina.

Olga MIKHAILOVA 2016-11-19
Exclusive interview with the artistic director of the choir of the Valaam Monastery Alexander Bordak
In Cherkessk, the performance of the famous choir of the Valaam Monastery was held with a full house.
By the beginning of the concert, there were no empty seats left in the hall, and the audience occupied the aisles, some even sat down on the steps of the stairs.
The concerts of the choir of the Valaam Monastery started from the cities of the Crimean peninsula - Yalta, Simferopol, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Kerch. The tour continued with concerts at the sites of the cities of the Black Sea coast of Novorossiysk and Sochi. Next - Krasnodar, Armavir and the Stavropol Territory: Nevinnomyssk, Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk, as well as North Ossetia and Ingushetia. In the coming days, concerts will take place in Chechnya and Dagestan. The schedule of the choir's performances can be so busy that the concerts are held according to the principle "every next concert in a new city".
At each concert, a message from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin is read out: “Traveling through the regions of Russia, the choir of the Valaam Monastery acquaints the public with the richest cultural and historical heritage of our people, with magnificent examples of ancient Russian singing art, traditional and modern sacred music, military-patriotic works, author's compositions,” says the welcoming speech of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. “I am sure that the performances of this unique, original group will leave the kindest and brightest impressions in the memory of the audience. And of course, such socially significant events as the concerts of the Valaam Monastery choir largely contribute to the consolidation of society around humanistic, spiritual and moral values, patriotism, citizenship, selfless service to the Fatherland,” Vladimir Putin also notes in his welcoming speech to the participants, organizers and guests of the concerts of the Valaam Monastery Choir as part of the All-Russian Tour with the program "The Light of Valaam".
Before the concert, we met with the artistic director of the choir Alexander Bordak. For a beautiful childish voice, he was still ten years old accepted into the third grade of the Choir School. M.I. Glinka at the State Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg, then graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in two specialties at once: choral conducting and academic vocals. His voice has always been subject to complex opera arias, and Russian folk songs, and old and modern romances, and works of Soviet song classics, in addition, Alexander himself composes beautiful melodies - and a year ago he led the choir of the Valaam Monastery
- Alexander, as I understand it, despite the fact that the choir is called Valaam, its soloists are not monks, are they?
- On Valaam for more than 20 years there has been a choir of the brethren of the monastery, very well-coordinated and friendly, but the singers of this choir do not leave the monastery walls and do not tour. As part of our team - professional musicians from St. Petersburg, graduates of the Choir School at the State Academic Chapel. M. I. Glinka and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, certified conductors and vocalists, leading singers of vocal, choir groups and musical theaters of St. Petersburg, laureates of international vocal competitions.
- And whose singing is better - monastic or professional?
- We always tell the audience: "If you want to fully enjoy the beauty and penetration of the ancient Valaam and church chants, come to the temple, come to the island of Valaam." The singing of the brethren is unique. It, unlike the singing of professionals, reflects the meaning of liturgical hymns and texts. We cannot think like people who live a monastic life until we ourselves begin to take a lively and constant part in liturgical life. Even being a believer, a professional during worship is more concerned with breathing, correct execution, than with his spiritual state. The community, the parish should sing in the temple, in the monasteries - fraternal choirs. Although, on the other hand, if secular people sing in churches, they somehow come into contact with the Church. But the concert performance of both the liturgical repertoire and the author's sacred music carries, in my opinion, a special missionary meaning.
- How did the singing tradition of the Valaam chant develop?
- Valaam chant is a local tradition of znamenny singing, the peculiarity of modern Valaam church singing is precisely that Russian chants are performed in the Greek manner, with sustained lower tones. One third of the program of the "Light of Valaam" tour is liturgical singing and spiritual music.
- What is your repertoire? How often does the program change?
- I would call enlightenment the leading idea of ​​concert work. Our concert "From Byzantium to Russia" includes liturgical singing from Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Old Russian chants. "The majestic tones of Valaam" is
original tunes of the Valaam monastery and their polyphonic presentations. "Russian spiritual concert" - spiritual works of Russian classics of large form, these are Bortnyansky, Degtyarev, Arkhangelsky. "Melodies of the Russian Soul" - Russian folk songs and romances by Alyabyev, Bulakhov, Vertinsky, songs of the Russian army and the Cossacks of the 19th-20th centuries, lyrical and patriotic songs of the Soviet period. "The Forgotten War" - original hymns, songs and romances of the First World War, Russian classical and modern sacred music. "Faith and Victory" - Easter chants of Russian classics and contemporary Russian composers Rachmaninov, Chesnokov, Bordak, songs about the Great Patriotic War Miguli, Tukhmanov, Molchanov. "The light of Christ enlightens all!" - Old Russian and Valaam chants of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas songs from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, England, France, Argentina.
- That is, as I understand it, you sing in many languages?
- Yes, the soloists of the choir sing in Greek, Georgian, English, Serbian, French, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Spanish.
- Tell us more about the work of the choir.
- The choir of the Valaam Monastery, working with the blessing of the hegumen of the Valaam Monastery, Bishop Pankratii of the Trinity, is simultaneously a liturgical singing and concert creative group. He participates in festive services at the Valaam Compound in St. Petersburg. The temple of the courtyard is the only place in the city where authentic ancient Russian chants are performed according to the old custom “antiphonally”, that is, alternately into two “faces” and in one common choir together. The team accompanies Patriarchal services on Valaam, solemn receptions on the island of the President and members of the Government of the Russian Federation, and other high-ranking guests of the monastery. During the summer pilgrimage season, the choir singers help the choir of the brethren of the Valaam Monastery sing and give charity concerts, acquainting numerous guests of the monastery with the traditions of Valaam church singing. This tour of the choir began in January with a performance in front of the Russian military at the Khmeimim air base in the Syrian province of Latakia.
- Who is in the choir? Are the members young?
- The average age of the members of the Vaalam monastery choir is 35 years. In total, 16 singers and accordionist Alexander Korbakov are participating in the tour. Lots of rare voices. The bass profundo of Mikhail Kruglov is very rare. Such singers are called octavists: they sing "an octave below the bass", more precisely, one octave below the lowest note of the chest register, to the E-sol of the contra-octave. Dmitry Popov has the highest of the male operatic voices - the countertenor. Its range is from "mi" of a small octave to "mi" of the second. The audience likes the ringing-clear voice of Artem Khamatnurov, and the gentle tenor altino of Anton Nesterov, and the soft baritone of Boris Petrov.
- You perform with the program "Light of Valaam". What does it consist of?
- The current concert program of the choir is old church chants, lyrical and patriotic songs of the First World War and the Great Patriotic War, poems by poets of the "Silver Age" and contemporary authors.
... And here are the musicians on the stage. Everything is perfect in them: a modest, dignified manner of performance, discreet costumes with gold-woven collars, and a sincere, sincere presentation of the material, and the power, strength and purity of male voices. Particular attention was drawn to two - Alexander Bordak himself, superbly leading the choir, and accordionist Alexander Korbakov, a virtuoso performer, holder of the title of "Golden Ten Harmonists of Russia", who simply won the hearts of all the women present, and not only with the brilliant talyanka chords, but also surprisingly noble appearance.
From the first notes taken, from the first measures, the audience plunged into the deserted God-filled measured monastic chants, then into the troubled years of the First World War, remembering the sisters of mercy, the shed tears and blood of Russian soldiers, over which the images of Christ, the Mother of God and Holy Rus' invisibly towered. "The Light of Valaam" is not just a concert, it is a rush of the soul, prayer, the power of sound, the power of the spirit and the power of the word. Each performance of each soloist was greeted by the hall with applause, and the further the choir sang, the louder they became, turned into a standing ovation, and at the end - the hall stood and chanted. The most complicated program, performed in one breath, without a single mistake or overlay, finally and irrevocably captivated the listeners. In the final, the whole hall applauded standing, the musicians were not released, shouts of “Bravo!” Another minute - and the singers would simply be carried in their arms.
After the concert, Nadezhda Pivovarova, First Deputy Head of the Administration of the Head and Government of the KChR, took the stage and excitedly addressed the choir members.
“On behalf of the Head of the Republic, let me welcome you to the hospitable land of Karachay-Cherkessia, express gratitude for the unique opportunity to listen to such works performed by, one might safely say, the legendary choir. Your program "Light of Valaam" for Karachay-Cherkessia is not only a cultural event, but also a spiritual one. People of different nationalities and religions live on the territory of the KChR. Here are the oldest Christian churches. And every inhabitant of the republic respects the cultural values ​​of our traditional religions. Your words to the Almighty, words of love to each other are close to us. I would like to thank you for the fact that your activities are aimed at educating young people in the spirit of patriotism,” said Nadezhda Ivanova. In parting, each member of the choir was presented with books about Karachay-Cherkessia and paintings depicting the Face of Christ as a keepsake of their stay in the KChR.

The choir of the Valaam Monastery is a unique creative team created on the occasion of the restoration and consecration in August 2005 of the Transfiguration Cathedral on about. Valaam by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.

The uniqueness of the activities of the Choir of the Valaam Monastery is due to the fact that it is simultaneously a liturgical-singing and concert creative team.

The first performance of the Valaam Monastery Choir took place in 2007 in Moscow at a gala concert of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In May 2008 the choir gave a solo concert in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari as part of the Festival of Russian Art in Italy.

Since 2009, solo concerts of the Choir have been held in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Pskov, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, Tambov and other Russian cities. With a full house, the concerts of the choir took place in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg (January 2013), the Concert Hall. P.I. Tchaikovsky of the Moscow State Philharmonic (June 2013), in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (June 2014), in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music (January 2015), in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic. Shostakovich in St. Petersburg (April 2015), the State Kremlin Palace (May 2016).

The Choir of the Valaam Monastery includes professional musicians from St. Petersburg and other cities, graduates of the Glinka Choir School at the State Academic Capella of St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, certified conductors and vocalists: Honored Artists of the Republic of Karelia Mikhail Kruglov (bass profundo) and Dmitry Popov (countertenor), laureate of international vocal competitions Boris Petrov (baritone) and others.

The permanent creative partners of the Choir are the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, soloist of the St. Petersburg Capella Vladimir Miller (bass profundo), soloist of the Bolshoi Theater of the Russian Federation Stanislav Mostovoy (tenor), soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Vladimir Tselebrovsky (baritone). At various times, many well-known performers have been and remain the creative partners of the Choir: People's Artists of the USSR Alibek Dnishev and Roza Rymbaeva, People's Artist of the RSFSR Lev Leshchenko, People's Artists of Russia Vasily Gerello, Dmitry Malikov, Elena Vaenga, Oleg Pogudin. People's Artists of Russia Alexei Petrenko and Valery Ivchenko, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova took part in the performance of the musical and literary programs of the Choir.

Artistic director of the Choir of the Valaam Monastery - laureate of the international competition Alexander Bordak (born 1973) - Russian conductor, vocalist, composer, graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory. Author and compiler of the programs "Faith and Victory" (2013), "The Forgotten War" (2014), "The Light of Christ Enlightens All" (2015), "The Light of Valaam" (2016).

In Vitebsk, the choir will present a new program "Yesenin" of songs based on the poems of the great poet, and will perform the best songs of various genres from its extremely wide repertoire, which includes 9 full-length concert programs.

Tickets at the box office of the city andwww. kvitki. by
Cashier: 63 93 92. Infoline: 67 22 92

Ulyanovsk and Dimitrovgrad were impressed by the performance of the choir of the Valaam Monastery. “The skill of the singers is so high that it seems that the Valaam choir is a single soul”, “It was a divine performance”, “It was wonderful, multifaceted - and deplorable, and joyful, and pacifying: the whole gamut of human feelings at one concert!” , “I want to hear Valaam’s choir more than once, feel pride in the history of our Russia, feel incredible joy and inspiration,” viewers write on social networks.

More than a thousand people attended the concert of the Valaam Monastery ensemble at the Lenin Memorial alone. The audience heard the program "Light of Valaam". Before the performance, the artistic director of the choir of the Valaam Monastery Alexander Bordak answered several questions.

- Alexander Valeryevich, how many years has the choir existed?

The choir that you will see today has existed for more than 20 years, and it consists of secular people. The fraternal Valaam choir is always on the island. According to the canons of the monastery, they do not leave it, so only the secular part of the choir can lead a touring concert life. Of course, we also work on Valaam: we help the brothers of the monastery at services, we sing small concerts for pilgrims who visit the island, we tell them about the Valaam ancient musical tradition. And already our full composition sings in the main service in honor of the founder of the monastery of St. Sergius Herman on July 11, which is headed by His Holiness the Patriarch.

- And how was your choir, which tours, formed?

Our choir began to appear in the 90s, at the moment when the monastery began to revive. And so to this day we work together and praise the Lord. There has never been an audition for the team. People really by God's grace turned out to be on Valaam. For example, I myself came to Valaam in 1993. At that moment, I was invited precisely because they needed a good professional singer who could quickly read any music from a sheet. Then they knew my attitude to the church. At that time, the choir director was Mikhail Ruzanov. As soon as I arrived at Valaam, I was given notes, and in just a few minutes I was already speaking to the pilgrimage group. And from that moment I began to serve there, work, and pray. Then they learned that there is such an owner of a rare singing voice - bass profundo Mikhail Kruglov. They also called him, Mikhail responded with joy, arrived. Then every year singers began to come there, for whom this place became close. Thus, an independent team was formed. In fact, there was no need to look for it. But these are not just acquaintances. Everyone has a musical education, almost everyone graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, so our team combined both high professionalism and sincere faith. We are distinguished, in addition to what I said, by very good friendly relations within the team. This gives us the opportunity to sincerely devote ourselves to the work with which we make people happy. The viewer feels this, so he always opens his heart very quickly and already listens with all his heart.

- Do you tour a lot?

The geography of our tours is very extensive: from the Far East to Kaliningrad. Over the past few years, we have sung over 330 concerts across the country. Our performances resonate in the hearts of the listeners, and this pleases us.

- The main goal of your performances?

Our task is to bring people to church, to say that God is alive, that he is among us, and therefore we try to convey this in an accessible language. At some point, we realized that the choir should have its own identity not only in the voices, but also in the recognition of the repertoire and works. Now there is not a single work that has not been specially processed for our team, given the vast range of voices: from countertenor to bass profundo. Spectators can hear the sounds of the violin and wind instruments. And no falsehood, not only musical, because the main thing is born in the sounds - purification and faith.

- What is the peculiarity of your chant?

On Valaam, until now, as not in many monasteries, and even more so in ordinary parish churches, the tradition of singing with ancient chants is preserved: banner, pillar. The Valaam chant itself just arose from them. Mostly it is sung in one or two voices. Only on major holidays, such as the Day of Remembrance of Sergius Herman, the miracle worker of Valaam, is it allowed to perform polyphonic harmonizations or author's compositions in the temple, which are based on the Valaam chant. And our main repertoire is Valaam chants. An entire program called "The Majestic Tones of Valaam" is dedicated to this unique ancient singing. It took us a long time to learn how to sing the way the monks sang at the beginning of the 20th century, when the choir in the monastery was large, more than 100 people sang in it. All this became possible thanks to the surviving audio recordings made by the Swedish radio, they published a whole collection of Valaam chants exactly in the same presentation as they sounded at the beginning of the 20th century.

- What are your plans?

Of course, to visit as many Russian cities as possible with concerts. In March, we will start preparing for a new program, which we will present on May 12 at the Kremlin Palace.

Irina Antonova

Photo provided by the Lenin Memorial

A sought-after concert group, consisting of laymen, touring various halls in Russia - no, this story is not about show business, but about serving God and people. The choir of the Valaam Monastery performs in front of people, many of whom have the most superficial idea of ​​Christianity, of the Church. The original concert programs of the choir are not only an offer to touch the ancient culture and enjoy the works of modern composers more familiar to it, but also evidence of the penetration of Orthodoxy into the consciousness of the inhabitants of Russia. The head of the choir Alexander Bordak tells about the history of the creation of the group and about its everyday life.

– The monastery on the island of Valaam arose at the beginning of the last millennium. As soon as the flame of faith lit up on the harsh northern land, hearts filled with love sang, giving praise to the Creator. The Greek missionaries Sergius and Herman came to the Valaam land, with the charter of the Greek service, they introduced the singing of the Byzantine tradition. The peculiarity of singing with one voice was passed down from generation to generation. In the era of Peter I, in the temples and monasteries of Rus', polyphonic chants began to be sung, but the brethren of the Valaam Monastery remained faithful to the ancient banner tradition. Many pilgrims traveled thousands of kilometers to find themselves on the island and immerse themselves in prayer, listening to a strict monophonic chant.

Gradually, the partes sounded on Valaam as well. More often, adaptations of monophonic chants were sung, which is confirmed. There is an audio recording on the Swedish radio - the monks who left Valaam due to the historically difficult situation recorded fragments of divine services, and there we hear just the Valaam chant in a polyphonic presentation.

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there has been a terrible desolation on Valaam. Military operations, then boarding school. And only in the 90s, with the revival of the monastery, the ancient monophonic chant begins to sound again. With the blessing of Bishop Pankraty of Trinity, professional musicians were invited to Valaam to help the fraternal choir. In addition to singing at the services, the "secular" part of the choir daily participated in small concert-lectures, during which they introduced pilgrims and tourists to the history of Valaam chants. The tradition of these performances has been preserved to this day.

Gradually, the Valaam Monastery acquires the status of the center of Orthodoxy in the North of Rus'. The patriarch serves annually on the island. Many guests come, among them are members of the country's government. The choir is increasing in size for a more voluminous and colorful sound, and at the moment sixteen people in its composition praise the Lord at services and sing concerts.

How did you become the head of the choir of the Valaam Monastery?

- I graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in choral conducting and vocal classes, and for a long time I was engaged in solo practice. In 2013 he was invited by the leadership of the Valaam Monastery to create new musical programs. In the fall of 2016, with the blessing of Bishop Pankraty, he was appointed artistic director of the group.

During our cooperation, a number of spiritual and patriotic programs have been created. The first was the program "Faith and Victory", which premiered on May 9, 2013 in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Further, the programs “The Forgotten War” were prepared for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, “The Light of Christ Enlightens All”, dedicated to the Nativity of Christ. All works are created taking into account the specifics of the voices of our singers. For example, especially for our bass Mikhail Kruglov, the owner of a rare bass profundo voice, a hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos “It is worthy to eat” was written. Such a voice is, of course, an adornment of our team. Like all voices, of course, which create that very recognizable color of our choir.

What is your choir doing now?

- At the moment we are performing in different cities of Russia with the program "Light of Valaam". The concert features ancient Valaam chants, arrangements of old melodies, author's music by Russian composers. Then we sing works in which we speak in simple song form about God's commandments, about mercy and sacrifice. And it is in the songs of the war years - known and unknown, loved and forgotten - that this topic is especially acute. Two thousand years ago, the Savior gave His life for the salvation of all mankind. And on the battlefields, thousands of heroes gave their lives in the name of peace and in the name of love, about which the Lord Himself said: “There is no greater love than if a man lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

How often does the choir need to rehearse in order to sound decent?

- We try to record each concert, then we listen to it, analyze it and make adjustments before the next concert at the rehearsal. Thus, during the tour, we have rehearsals every day. Before, when we didn't have a lot of gigs, we used to meet two or three times a week. Now, when we visit St. Petersburg much less often, our rehearsals are only on tour and take place.

What tunes, works of which composers do you personally like? And does your taste influence the choir's repertoire?

- First of all, of course, these are ancient monophonic chants, which are an integral part of worship on Valaam. We perform them at every concert. Works by Sergei Rachmaninov and Pavel Chesnokov are often heard. To realize creative tasks, sometimes we compose musical compositions ourselves.

Does anyone other than you participate in the programming?

“Until now, we have managed to cope with the tasks set ourselves. But ahead is a new work, the working title of which is “100 years of the life of the country: 1917-2017”. The premiere will take place on July 27 at Valaam as part of the Enlightener festival. In addition to the choir, the concert will feature singer-songwriter Elena Frolova, singer Oleg Pogudin, and a chamber symphony orchestra. There will be video support. Of course, we cannot cope with such a volume of work alone. Directors, video engineers will be invited, and by joint efforts, I am sure, it will be possible to create a new interesting program.

Where do new singers come from? Do they have to be church people?

- The main composition of our choir has been preserved since the 90s. We have been working together for more than twenty years, and therefore we understand each other well from a half-word, half-gesture.

Of course, and new people come. Faith is a very personal matter. When a person comes to an audition, no one asks him if he believes in God, if he is a church member. If a person decides to work in our choir, he understands that he is going not only to work, but, first of all, to serve God, since we are engaged in spiritual and educational activities. God brings us the people we need. As a choir leader, I don't look into the personal space of the singers. But the attitude of the guys, of course, is shown.

For example, we were in Kerch. The concert "on the mainland" was in jeopardy, as the ferry was closed. Suddenly, a priest unknown to us appeared and began to serve a prayer service. We didn’t even notice it all right away, because we were in a different place. I began to participate in prayer. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that a few more of our guys had joined. Then I heard the basses sing. After a while, the whole choir was already singing. Therefore, it seems to me that we breathe the same air, look in the same direction and do one common thing.

Are you often invited to participate in worship services?

- Not often at the moment. And this is justified, because every day we have concerts, every day we move. There are purely physical limitations. Guys need to get enough sleep in order to fully work. We sing services on Valaam. Our ministry now is in concert venues. And this is very important.

At concerts, you use the subsonic. Are there any nuances in this part of your work?

- The halls are very different in terms of acoustic parameters, so we use microphones. We try to “sound out” each singer so that the sound losses are minimal. We appealed to Vladyka Pankraty with a request that the benefactors of the monastery help in acquiring headsets for each member of the choir. I am sure that such a moment will come, and this will give us the opportunity to get a full range of sound colors.

A very important point: our sound engineer is in the hall, but one of the singers in the choir is also a sound engineer, he has a tablet in his notes folder, with which he controls the sound directly from the stage. This is our little feature.

Interviewed by Igor LUNEV