"Choral Spring in Nizhny"festival brings together Russia's best university choirs
On 16 May, the festival "Choral Spring in Nizhny" opened at Lobachevsky University. Participating in the event that is organised by UNN are choirs from Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Perm. The four days of the festival are packed with concerts, educational master classes and meetings.
Before the opening concert of the choral festival, another festive event took place in the courtyard of the Lobachevsky University building on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street (UNN Institute of Philology and Journalism): the Lobachevsky UniverSum Festival of Cultures organised by UNN international students. At the fair, the participants presented their peoples' everyday items, national costumes, traditional jewellery, and souvenirs. A spectacular programme with national dances and musical numbers was prepared for the guests. The Lobachevsky UniverSum Festival takes place every year since 2018. This time it brought together students from 18 countries: Algeria, Bolivia, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Colombia, Morocco, Mongolia, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, El Salvador, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ecuador, and South Africa.
Then the big festival day continued in the Old Assembly Hall of Lobachevsky University, and the guests of the festival turned from folk traditions to the traditions of choral art. UNN Rector Oleg Trofimov addressed the guests and participants with a welcoming speech.
"Choral singing is one of the key elements of centuries-old Russian culture. Realising the importance of this sphere for our society, we have been supporting it for many years and will continue to do so. The tradition of choral festivals at Lobachevsky University dates back to 1983. These festivals are always colourful events that show the diversity of creative activities in student choral art," emphasised Oleg Trofimov.
Sergey Gorin, Chief Advisor to the Governor, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Nizhny Novgorod, welcomed the audience and wished every success to the festival and all its participants.
Lev Skitnevsky, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod region, noted in his speech that last year Nizhny Novgorod had the status of the Youth Capital of Russia, and this year it is our country’s Cultural Capital. Such festivals make it possible to combine these two very important agendas, because culture, art, and music are the tools that help to convey the main values to the youth and to form its spiritual basis.
The first day of the choral festival was opened by the chamber orchestra "Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod", the winner of the Nizhny Novgorod Prize 2023 in the category "Event of the Year".
Next, the Youth Choir "Contrast" took to the stage. It was established in 2006 at the Nizhny Novgorod Gubernia College and consists of students and graduates of the college, as well as amateurs of choral music. The choir is a laureate and holder of gold diplomas of international and All-Russian competitions.
The programme was continued by the Academic Choir of Lomonosov Moscow State University, The choir that holds the title of the People's Collective of Russia was founded in 1775, it is the oldest amateur choir in Russia.
The first festival day was rounded off with a performance by the Lobachevsky University Choir, also a People's Collective of Russia. This is one of the oldest choirs in Nizhny Novgorod, it was founded in 1949. Since 2003, Larisa Erykalova has been the choir’s artistic director and chief conductor. The choir has received many honourable awards at prestigious Russian and international competitions.
That evening, works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Georgy Sviridov, Alexey Rybnikov, Vasily Kalinnikov, Mikael Tariverdiev and other authors were performed at the concert.
The participants of the festival "Choral Spring in Nizhny" include: Academic Choir "Mlada" (Perm), Academic Choir of Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow), Academic Male Choir of MEPhI (Moscow), Youth Choir "Contrast" (Nizhny Novgorod) and Lobachevsky University Choir (Nizhny Novgorod).
