Figure 1.--

Russia today does have some Orthodox boy choirs. HBC has no information at this time on the historical boy choir tradition. All of the current choirs are of recent foundatiion because the Soviet Union did not allow church groups to work with children.

Church History

Russia was christianized in 988 by Saint Vladimir, whose grandmother, Olga, was said to have been converted in Constantinople. By 1051 hermits were settling in caves along the bank of the Dnepr river beneath what would become the oldest monastery in Russia, the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. The religion there was Eastern Catholicism or Orthodoxy ("True Faith") hence the Russian Church is Orthodox rather than Roman Catholic. The seat of the Church now is the Trinity-St. Sergiev Monastery in Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk).

The Communists launched the Russian Revolution. Lennin of course believed religion to be the opiate of the masses. Religion was an early target of the Revolution. Supression of the church beegan in the earlist years of the Revolution. The dominate Orthodox Church was viewed as backward, superstitious, and counter-revolutiionary. After the Red Army prevailed in the Civil war, the privilidged position the Church had held in Czarist Russia was systematically stripped away. The regime's approach to religion varied over time. At times the Church was actively supressed, churces destroyed and priests shot or arrested and shipped to the Gulag. At other times it was mereky discouraged. But from the onset, the Church was denied its historic role in education and prevented from working with children.

Historic Choral Tradition

HBC at this time has no information on the choral tradition in the Russian Orthodox church. As the Communists did not let religious groups work with young people, all of the Russian Orthodox choirs are of recent foundation.

Individual Boy Choirs

HBC has some limited information about individual Russian Orthodox choirs.

Konakovo Boys Choir

The Konakovo's Boys Choir was founded in 1992 by young enthusiastic musicians from Gnessins' Academy of music (Moscow, Russia). In 1995 this choir was reorganized to a Choir Lyceum. The repertoire of the Choir includes the Russian and Old-slavonic church music, music of the European composers, Russian folk songs and so on. The Choir has performed in the Kremlin Palace and the main Moscow concerts halls. Children have got several concert tours at home and abroad (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland). Our boy regularly take part in the church services at the churches in their native town and other Russian cities and monasteries. The director of the Lyceum is a Priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Father Vadim Makhnovsky.

Moscow Boys Choir

Already on HBC

Saint-Petersburg Boys Choir of the Glinka Capella

This choir has a unreadable site in cyrillic characters.