On Saturday, June 18, the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute male choir performed a concert of the works of renowned Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil in the Pope John Paul II Concert Hall in Jerusalem.
The event was attended by His Holiness Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem & All Palestine, Bishop Theodosius of Seattle, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, the heads of the Russian Ecclesiastical Missions of the Russian Church Abroad and Moscow Patriarchate – Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky) and Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov), respectively, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Israel A.D. Viktorov, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus E.S. Vorobyov, head of the mission of the Russian Federation in Palestine G. L. Buachidze, rectress of the Gornensky Convent Abbess Catherine (Chernysheva), rectress of Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives Abbess Barbara (Novikova), and rectress of the Gethsemane Convent Abbess Elizabeth (Smelic).
PaTRAM CEO Tatiana Zacharin-Geringer greeted the esteemed guests at the start of the concert. The works featured conductor, Ekaterina Antonenko and soloists Igor Morozov & Evgeny Kochurovsky.
The concert was the world premiere debut of the male choir arrangement of the renowned composer’s All-Night Vigil. The choir will be producing a professional recording in the coming days at the Mount of Olives Convent
After resounding applause from the audience, His Holiness, Patriarch Theophilos, expressing his deep satisfaction with the choir’s performance.
In June 2022, at the invitation of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission of ROCOR, new compact disc of “The All-Night Vigil” by S.V. Rachmaninov, arranged for male choir will be recorded in the church of the Monastery of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives. The recording is to be conducted by the well known conductor Ekaterina Antonenko.
In addition to rehearsals, concerts and recordings, the singers visited the holy places of Palestine.
Photos: Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese – G. Konyev