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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
In the United States, many churches are familiar with an organ or piano accompanying a choir, but such is not the case in Russia. Four graduates of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, a world-renowned music school, performed a breathtaking concert at Westwood’s St. John’s on September 15 without the use of any instruments. The evening’s concert was split into two parts: sacred chants from the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian folk songs.
“You might notice we do not use instruments. We sing a cappella,” said Sergey Tupitsyn, one of the performers. “That’s not because we don’t know how to play them. In fact, every one of us was trained to play – at least to some extent – piano.”
But it is not at all customary for instruments to be played in Russian Orthodox churches. They typically will only use their voices, and the choir consists of carefully selected professionals.
The LYRA singers from St. Petersburg perfectly performed church hymns and folk songs.
The hymns they selected were an assortment of songs from Russian and Bulgarian composers. One song, “In Thy Kingdom Remember Us O Lord,” the quartet sang lyrics that included the Beatitudes. Although the lyrics were in Russian, the audience did not need to know the lyrics to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful range of vocals from the singers.
After performing the sacred chants, the performers went backstage before returning to perform folk music as Sergey talked about some of the singer’s accomplishments. Kudriashov won first place in a Russian singing competition and was named the “voice of Russia” in 2015. Anna Makarenko, the soprano, was also a finalist in a singing competition in Russia. Irina Zykova, the mezzo-soprano, was recognized for her degrees in music and medicine, and also works doing sound therapy.
The LYRA singers are a part of a community, meaning there are many professional musicians in the group, but they tour in smaller, more intimate groups. The singers also created quite an ambitious touring schedule, as well. For the 47 days they will be in the States, the LYRA singers will be performing 41 concerts.
Despite their busy schedule, the LYRA singers were certain that their Westwood audience enjoyed the performance immensely. They had previously performed at the church and the majority of the audience had returned for another sensational and striking concert by the talented Russian singers.
