Choir of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery

Regent - Nikon Zhila

Russian horn orchestra

Artistic director and chief conductor - Sergey Polyanichko

The male choir at the Moscow Sretensky Monastery appeared simultaneously with the foundation of the monastery in 1397 and has existed for more than 600 years. The break in the activity of the choir came only for years of persecution of the church during the period of Soviet power. In 2005, he was led by Nikon Zhila, a graduate of the Gnesin Academy of Music, the son of a priest who, from childhood, sang in the church choir of the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. In the current composition of the choir are seminarians, students of the Sretensky Seminary, graduates of the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Academy, as well as vocalists from the Academy of Choral Art, the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnessin Academy.

In addition to regular services in the Sretensky monastery, the choir sings at solemn patriarchal divine services in the Moscow Kremlin, participates in missionary trips and significant events in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church. A participant in international competitions and music festivals, the choir actively tours: with the program "Masterpieces of Russian Choral Singing", he traveled to the USA, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and France. Discography of the choir includes albums of sacred music, records of Russian folk songs, Cossack songs, pre-revolutionary and Soviet urban romances.

The Russian horn orchestra under the direction of Sergei Polyanichko will take part in the Christmas festival for the first time.