The Mixed Choir of the M.I. Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory is a teaching and concert ensemble that operates within the conducting department of the conservatory. The choir's members are first- through fifth-year students of the Department of Choral Conducting.[1] The artistic director and conductor of the choir is the head of the Department of Choral Conducting, Professor Ivan Mikhaylovich Stolnikov.[1][2]

Objectives and Activities

The ensemble's work combines several areas: choirmaster practice for student conductors, preparation of graduates' state examination programs, and the development and performance of its own concert programs of choral and cantata-oratorio music.[1] The choir performs both at Nizhny Novgorod venues and outside the region. The Department of Choral Conducting, to which the choir is inseparably tied, has earned professional authority through the work of such teachers as S.N. Kuzovatov, A.I. Sytov, L.K. Sivukhin, V.A. Kurzhavsky, N.I. Pokrovsky, and others.[2]

Concert Geography

Notable events of recent years include a tour of the cities of Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Vologda (2008); a concert at the Republican Central Concert Hall in Kazan (2009); and performances in Essen (Germany) together with the Kettwig Bach Ensemble, where Grechaninov's "Demestvennaya Liturgy" and Mozart's Mass in C minor were performed (2010).[1]

In 2011 the choir took part in the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the NNSC: in October in a solo concert marking the anniversary of the Department of Choral Conducting, and in December in a joint performance of Beethoven's Mass in C major at the Kremlin Concert Hall together with the Chamber Choir "Nizhny Novgorod", the conservatory's student symphony orchestra, and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic.[1] In December 2012, Rossini's Petite messe solennelle was performed in the conservatory's Great Hall.[1]

In 2013, the choir performed at the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic, in Kazan, in Vladimir, and at the Moscow International House of Music, where, together with the men's choir "Blagovest," it performed L. Pankratov's Requiem. In 2014–2015, concerts took place at the Center for Classical Music in Vladimir, the Small and Great Halls of the Moscow International House of Music, the V.S. Popov Academy of Choral Art, and the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory.[1]

The choir is a regular participant in the L.K. Sivukhin Choral Festivals, the Sheremetev Choral Assemblies, and the Rybinsk Choral Festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of V.G. Sokolov's birth, as well as the annual All-Russian Conductors' Competitions for students of secondary specialized educational institutions.[1]

In September–October 2023, the choir took part in the premiere performances of A. Grechaninov's opera "Dobrynya Nikitich" in a semi-staged production at the "Pakgauzy" cultural center. The production was a joint project of the A.S. Pushkin Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater, the V.A. Kuznetsov Nizhny Novgorod Russian Folk Orchestra, and the conservatory choir; a new "Nizhny Novgorod" orchestration was created for it specially by conservatory associate professor Venedikt Peunov.[3]

Sources

  1. nnovcons.ru — Ensembles
  2. nnovcons.ru — Faculties
  3. Vremya N — The premiere of the semi-staged performance of the opera "Dobrynya Nikitich" will take place at Pakgauzy