Russian New Year Concerts A Resounding Success

The PaTRAM Institute Singers performed at the annual Russian New Year Concerts staged by the Clarion Choir. The concerts took place on New Year’s Eve and Day in New York City at the Church of the Resurrection on East 74th Street.

The Clarion Choir invited the PaTRAM Institute Singers to be part of their annual event, and it was a resounding success with full-house audiences on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Led by Maestro Peter Jermihov (left center), the PaTRAM Institute Singers presented a program of traditional Russian Orthodox liturgical pieces by such well-known composers as Chesnokov, Kastalsky, Ledkovsky, and Rachmaninoff, but also sang works by living American Orthodox composer Kurt Sander and Russian great Georgy Sviridov. The PaTRAM segment of the program included solos by Fotina Naumenko, Soprano (“Sacred Love” by Sviridov), Glenn Miller, Bass (“God Is With Us” by Kastalsky), and Protodeacon Leonid Roschko (“Memory Eternal” by Chesnokov and “Many Years” by Prokofiev).

The second half of the program, performed by the Clarion Choir and led by Maestro Steven Fox, included Alexander Kastalsky’s unique and seldom-heard “Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes.” This great work was written exactly 100 years ago in memory of those who lost their lives in the First World War. Soloists included Protodeacon Leonid Roschko, Marc Day, Tenor (“The Great Litany”), and Jonathan Woody, Bass (“Alleluia and With Profound Wisdom”).

At the end of the program both choirs surrounded the audience and, led by Maestro Peter Jermihov, sang Rachmaninoff’s famous “Bogoroditse Devo” from the “All-Night Vigil.” The choirs and both maestros received a rousing ovation from a visibly moved audience.