Board of Directors and Officers | Singers | Artistic Director
Russian Musical Arts Society of America (RMASA) 

RCCNY in the International News

The Chorus

Among other venues, the chorus has become a regular presence in Carnegie Hall. In November 2007, RCCNY performed Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, under the direction of Yuri Temirkanov. Previously, in April 2005, RCCNY performed in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Kirov Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. New York Times reviewer Allan Kozinn described the choral sound in this performance as “glorious.” In June 2004, RCCNY performed in the American premiere of Sergei Taneyev’s opera Agamemnon (concert performance), with the Manhattan Philharmonic under Peter Tiboris, and The Aquila Theatre Company featuring Olympia Dukakis, and in June 2000 RCCNY participated in the American premiere of Mikis Theodorakis’ opera Electra (concert version).

Other Carnegie Hall mainstage appearances include participating in a benefit performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on behalf of the victims of the Kashmir earthquake, broadcast live to Pakistan from Carnegie Hall (January 2006); as well as concerts with the Czech Philharmonic under Vladimir Ashkenazy (February 2003); with the Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov (November 1997); at the Moscow 850th Anniversary Gala (September 1997); and with the American-Russian Youth Orchestra under Leon Botstein (Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood, June 1997). In its more standard guise as a chamber chorus, RCCNY frequently performs at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, where it has presented liturgical masterworks and a capella or lightly-accompanied jewels of the concert repertoire.

In 2001, RCCNY performed Rachmaninoff’s monumental Vespers: All-Night Vigil to sold-out audiences at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; and performed excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom at the New York Festival of Sacred Music, produced by John Schaefer and Philip Glass at the request of the Dalai Lama. That event, part of a World Festival of Sacred Music that spanned two years and 19 cities, was simulcast on WNYC-FM. In 2000, the chorus performed Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's “Re-Encountering Rachmaninoff” festival, where James Oestreich (The New York Times) praised the group for the “suppleness and otherworldliness of its sound”; Willa Conrad (The Star-Ledger) called RCCNY “an inspired choice” and hailed the chorus’s “stylistic purity” and “exciting, spontaneous” performance.” RCCNY’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, at the Bard College “Tchaikovsky Rediscoveries” festival in 1998, was called “splendid, radiant, and sonorous” by Paul Griffith (The New York Times).

Russian Chamber Chorus performances of contemporary and little-known music have also been hailed by critics: Mr. Oestreich (The New York Times) called the chorus's “superbly prepared cantata performances” of music by Yuri Yukechev “extraordinary; richly imagined and deftly realized.” Subsequently, First Art, a radio program devoted to choral music, aired Yukechev’s My Heart is Ready across the United States. The Library of Congress used ancient znamenny chants performed by chorus members for its documentary Old Believers, part of the Great Heritage series; and performances by RCCNY have been featured on “New Sounds” with John Shaefer and “Around New York” with Fred Child (WNYC-FM). The chorus has performed contemporary music by composers including Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Zakhar Blyakher, Feliksas Bajoras, Victor Copytsko, Efrem Podgaits, Vladimir Ryabov, Michael Zeiger, as well as original compositions and arrangements by Nikolai Kachanov. Many of these works were written specifically for RCCNY. The chorus collaborated with the Bachanalia Chamber Orchestra and Nina Beilina in a rare full-score performance of Alexander Gretchaninoff’s Liturgia Domestica; and premiered Alexei Haieff’s long-lost masterworks, Holy Week and Easter, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in April 2002.

The Chorus frequently performs at the invitation of prominent New York City cultural institutions. In November 2003, the Chorus performed a sold-out program celebrating the 300th anniversary of the city of St. Petersburg as the culminating event of the Harriman Institute Symposium, St. Petersburg Through American Eyes. In July of 2004, members of RCCNY performed in Sir John Tavener’s groundbreaking all-night vigil The Veil of the Temple at the Lincoln Center Festival, and in fall 2005 performed at the Guggenheim Museum as part of the celebration surrounding the opening of that Museum’s comprehensive exhibit of Russian art throughout the ages.

In addition to its concert performances, the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York has garnered critical acclaim for its growing catalog of recordings. RCCNY’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was chosen by New York Times critic James Oestreich as number four on his list of the top ten classical CDs of 2001. The chorus has also recorded Yuri Yukechev’s two cantatas My Heart Is Ready and By Candlelight (Helicon).

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Board of Directors Edgar Lansbury, Chairman   Nicolas Mokhoff, Vice Chairman   Edward Baran, Treasurer Torrie Allen Nancy Caudill Daniel Entin Nikolai Kachanov Tamara Kachanov Constance McCord Tamara Pozdnyakova Laura Schlachtmeyer

Advisory Board Daniel Bavolack Timothy DeWerff Helen Doctorow Nadia Mokhoff Vladimir Morosan Polly Pen Nicolas G. Schidlovsky Sonia Tower Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Officers Tamara Kachanov, Executive Director Joy Glazener, Adminstrative Coordinator Anna Laskova, Russian Publicity Erin Sheldon, Webmaster Nadia Mokhoff, Box Office Manager Laura Schlachtmeyer, Publicity/Editor

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Singers

Artistic Director

NIKOLAI KACHANOV was born in the Siberian city of Barnaul, capital of the Altai Region of Russia. Trained as a pianist in his early years, Kachanov earned appreciation for his achievements as a jazz musician and for his devotion to Russian sacred music during times when these genres were officially disapproved in his homeland. He holds a Ph.D. in choral conducting from the Novosibirsk Conservatory and completed post-doctoral studies at the Moscow Conservatory. In the 1970s Kachanov enjoyed an active and highly successful career in Novosibirsk as a conductor of choral works from throughout the classical music canon, and as a teacher and mentor of aspiring young conductors.

In 1981, Maestro Kachanov moved to the United States with his wife, Tamara and his son Pavlusha. In 1984, Nikolai and Tamara founded the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York with the help of enthusiastic fellow singers. At that time, the treasures of the Russian choral repertoire were rarely, if ever, performed in this country. It is largely due to Maestro Kachanov that this music has become a staple of New York City's concert life. As Music Director of this unique ensemble, Kachanov has introduced American audiences to a long list of works, including numerous ancient chants previously banned in his homeland (and completely unknown in America), and works by Russian master composers of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.

Among the collaborations of which Nikolai Kachanov is most proud are those with Russian-American composer Alexei Haieff and electronic music pioneer Vladimir Ussachevsky. In 1992 he created and conducted the Ussachevsky Festival of Russian-American contemporary music, held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. In 2002 he led the choir in the premiere of Haieff's long-lost masterworks, Holy Week and Easter, also at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. This premiere had special significance because shortly before his death, the composer bequeathed these scores to Kachanov, verbally entrusting their future solely to him.

Nikolai Kachanov enjoys an active career as a vocal coach, having worked with talented singers including Angela Brown. He has prepared concert choruses for Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leon Botstein, Vladimir Spivakov and Peter Tiboris, and participated as a coach in the 2004 Lincoln Center Festival's U.S. premiere of John Tavener's All-Night Vigil, The Veil of the Temple.

Gifted with an inquiring mind and a passion for both philosophy and science, Kachanov has trained his singers in the use of the Pythagorean and natural scale tuning systems, as well as in harmonic uses of the voice characteristic of the Tuva region of Siberia. Maestro Kachanov places great emphasis on the importance of these techniques for the release of the true beauty in music.

Nikolai Kachanov is a composer of choral and electronic music. His philosophy is elegantly reflected in his two choral scores, Benevolence and Reflections on Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan, which interweave elements of Eastern and Western musical traditions. Both works were premiered by the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York to sold-out audiences at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in May 2003, and are scheduled to be recorded and released on CD in late 2004. Kachanov's first CD recording, The Call, was released in the spring of 2003.

A man who lives and breathes music, Nikolai Kachanov often participates as a singer in his choral concerts. Additionally, he has delighted audience members with the cogent, eloquent program notes he writes for all of his concert performances.

Russian Musical Arts Society of America, Inc. (RMASA)

RMASA was founded in 1985 for the express purpose of creating and supporting the Russian Chamber Chorus and Early Russian Music Ensemble of New York. RMASA promotes intercultural awareness by commissioning, presenting and recording new or unknown works for American audiences, bringing contemporary composers and performers from Russia, and publishing rare and lesser-known music, including early Slavic liturgical music. Since its founding, RMASA has sponsored concerts in various cities in the United States and Canada.

Russian Chamber Chorus of New York
731 West 183rd Street
Suite 3 I
New York, NY 10033-5220
Phone: 212 928-1402
e-mail:info@rccny.org
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