Slavyanka is an American
a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
vocal group based in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Their repertoire consists largely of religious and secular music performed in a variety of
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...
. Most of the group's singers have full-time jobs outside the group and do not speak the languages sung. Originally a men's chorus, the group expanded to include women in 2013.
It is currently under the direction of Irina Shachneva.
History
Slavyanka was founded in 1979 by a group of former
Yale Russian Chorus members including Paul Andrews, John McCarthy, and Peter Gleick. The name "Slavyanka" was chosen in reference to a 19th century Slavic name for California's
Russian River.
In 1983, the group became a
501(c)(3) nonprofit
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...
. Directors of the group have included founder Paul Andrews (1979—1993),
Aleksei Shipovalnikov (1993—1996),
Gregory Smirnov (1996—2011), and Irina Shachneva (2011—Present). The group started out with around 15 men and presently has a rotating membership of around 40 men and women.
Slavyanka has sung over 400 concerts. The group toured the Soviet Union in 1986, 1989, and 1999, and returned for a tour of Russia in 2016.
In 1986, they were the first American chorus to perform in St. Petersburg's
Glinka Capella.
In 2016, they were the only American choir invited to perform at the 150th anniversary of Moscow's
Tchaikovsky Conservatory
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer Music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose music made a lasting impression internati ...
.
In 1986 and 1990, Slavyanka was chosen to perform at the Western Regional Conventions of the
American Choral Directors Association
The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting the field of choral music
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Lat ...
. The group performed for
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
when he visited San Francisco in 1990.
Notable performances of historic works by the group include
Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil
The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the ...
, the Western premiere of
Aleksei Shipovalnikov's Vespers, and the US premiere of
Konstantin Shvedov's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, recovered from secreted Soviet negatives.
Slavyanka's performed languages have included
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
,
Ukrainian,
Old Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...
,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
,
Croatian,
Latvian,
Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
** Lithuanian language
** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region
** L ...
,
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia
* Mac ...
,
Slovene,
Georgian, and
Svan.
Some of their repertoire incorporates
Tuvan throat singing
Tuvan throat singing, also known as Mongolian throat singing, is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia, the main technique of which is known as ''khoomei'' ( or ). It is noted for including overtone singing. In 2009, it w ...
.
Recordings
Slavyanka has recorded 10 albums:
* ''Russian Church Music'' (1988)
* ''Russia Old & New'' (1991)
* ''Konstantin Shvedov: Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom'' (1991)
* ''Little Odessa, movie soundtrack'' (1994)
* ''Slavyanka Sounds of Heaven'' (1999)
* ''Slavyanka in Concert, Mission San Luis Obispo'' (1999)
* ''Song of the Volga Boatmen'' (2000)
* ''With Love from the Balkans and Caucasus'' (2003)
* ''Slavyanka Russian Favorites'' (2004)
* ''Slavyanka in Russia'' (2016)
In addition, Slavyanka's music has been featured in the films
Tell Me a Riddle
Tell Me a Riddle is a collection of short fiction by Tillie Olsen first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. in 1961.
The volume is composed of three short stories and a novella, the title piece “Tell Me a Riddle.” “Tell Me a Riddle” w ...
(1980),
Little Odessa (1994), and
What Dreams May Come (1998).
See also
*
Yale Russian Chorus
References
External links
Official website*
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1979
Musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Francisco
Choirs in California
A cappella musical groups
501(c)(3) organizations