Hudson Valley Singers Present A CAPPELLA Russian! 5/1

Celebrate Spring with A CAPPELLA Russian! Tri-state area audiences are in for a special treat as the Hudson Valley Singers perform works close to their Russian-born director's heart in a series of concerts beginning on Sunday May 1, 2011 at 3 PM at the White Plains Presbyterian Church, 39 North Broadway, White Plains. Their tour continues into New York City on Saturday May 7 at 7:30 PM at the Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, 552 West End Ave. at 87th Street, and New Jersey on Saturday May 14 at 7 PM at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 118 Chadwick Road, Teaneck.

In a break from their traditional concerts accompanied by a full orchestra, it's been all a cappella all year for the chorus.
In this, the second season of their 60th Anniversary year, the Hudson Valley Singers, directed by former Metropolitan Opera Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master Eugene Sirotkine, will perform works by Romance composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Taneyev, Aleksandr Yegorov, and Pavel Chesnokov, from both the Tsar's reign and the soviet era.

Russia has a long-standing tradition of a cappella singing influenced by many facets of Russian culture, including music written for the Church. Explains Sirotkine, "Russian Orthodox tradition did not and does not allow instruments in church. In every way it affected traditions and repertoire."

When religious observances came under attack after the Bolshevik Revolution, composers turned to creating secular works. Although they were able to continue in the a cappella tradition, since sacred choral works were banned, many of their earlier liturgical works were nearly forgotten and are rarely performed. This May, under Sirotkine's direction, the Hudson Valley Singers will help rescue some of that "beautiful, fresh and melodious music" from obscurity as they perform both secular and sacred works.

Sirotkine grew up immersed in the musical culture of his native Russia, both at home and through his training at some of Russia's finest conservatories, beginning with his acceptance to the prestigious Glinka Choir College at age seven, through his directorial debut with the Latvian Philharmonic in his native St. Petersburg in 1989. As a result, besides enjoying wonderful music, the audience will be treated to Sirotkine's particular insights into Russia's a cappella tradition throughout the concert.

Sirotkine has recruited three fellow Russian and Ukrainian émigrés to join the 75-member chorus, including Hanna Golodinskii, a young soprano soloist with The Russian Chamber Chorus of New York who has performed as a soloist with operas and choruses in her native Ukraine and in the US.

Golodinskii recalls sitting at her grandmother's table surrounded by friends and neighbors as they "put their hearts" into singing songs by these well-loved and well-known composers, whose work was influenced by "folk music born from the people." Like many of her neighbors, her grandmother had no musical instruments, so they sang without accompaniment. She is thrilled with the pieces chosen for this concert. The songs reveal "the souls of the people" singing about "life and love...that's why people love them around the world," she said. Many of the songs are based upon "simple melodies," she said, however, they are "simple, yet difficult to sing. Not too many choirs are singing this music."
Singing difficult music rarely attempted by amateurs has been the hallmark of the Hudson Valley Singers, earning them the sobriquet of Westchester's "most ambitious" chorus. Join them this May for another ambitious concert and enjoy both familiar and rarely heard masterpieces of Russian choral music.

Spring Concert Dates: Sunday May 1, 2011, 3 PM at White Plains Presbyterian Church, 39 North Broadway, White Plains, NY 10601; Saturday May 7, 2011, 7:30 PM at St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, 552 West End Ave. at 87th St in Manhattan, and Saturday May 14, 2011 7 PM at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 118 Chadwick Road, Teaneck, New Jersey.

Tickets ($20 in advance, Seniors, Students/$25 at the door) are available through the website www.hudsonvalleysingers.org, by phone 914-674-2865, or email tickets@hudsonvalleysingers.org.

About the Hudson Valley Singers: The Hudson Valley Singers, a non-profit amateur ensemble under the professional direction of Eugene Sirotkine, has been enriching the cultural life of Westchester and Manhattan since 1951. The 75-member chorus has performed in Budapest and Costa Rica during the last few seasons and has plans to bring their talents to the Netherlands next year. Moving in a fresh new direction for their 60th Anniversary, it's been all a cappella all year for the chorus. In a new endeavor, ten hand-picked singers, five men and five women, have formed the Hudson Valley Chamber Singers as the service arm of the chorus to bring their delightful music - also a cappella this year - to hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, and other community venues throughout the tri-state area. They are truly a community chorus, with hipsters in their 20's to retirees who have been around even longer than the chorus. New singers are always welcome.

About Eugene Sirotkine: Eugene Sirotkine has directed the Hudson Valley Singers since 1998. He debuted with the Latvian Philharmonic in St. Petersburg in 1989 and after immigrating to the US, was an assistant conductor and assistant chorus master with the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1999 through 2008. Over the past two decades he has conducted orchestras and choruses across the globe, including the Hong Kong Philharmonic with Olga Borodina; the Orquesta Sinfónica UNCuyo in Argentina; the Cape Philharmonic and the Cape Town Opera in South Africa; Israeli Vocal Arts Institute; the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, England as assistant Conductor; and with the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra (which he founded and directs) in collaboration with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York City Center and the Kennedy Center Orchestra, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., among others.