Yale Russian Chorus to perform next week in Merced

The Yale Russian Chorus is scheduled to perform a concert in Merced at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Mercy Outpatient Center.

The performance, titled “Bright Sadness: A Musical Journey to Easter,” is being presented by St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church, according to a press release.

The Yale Russian Chorus attracts students and members of the greater Yale University community from a variety of backgrounds and representing numerous interests, all united in their love and appreciation for Slavic choral music and culture.

The chorus was founded in 1953 by Denis Mickiewicz and George Litton as an extension of Yale’s Russian-language club, and has thrived since then through numerous generations of Yale students, having served as a powerful force for preservation of Russian choral music during the Cold War era, the press release said.

According to the release, the group is now recognized as one of the world’s most important performance ensembles of Slavic music. The Yale Russian Chorus’ repertoire, which spans from the 12th century to the 21st century, includes a variety of sacred and secular music, including ancient chant, cultural songs, and major choral works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, to name a few.

Mark Bailey became the chorus’ artistic director in 1995. Since then, the ensemble has performed in more than 50 major American cities in major concert venues. Those performances include two by invitation at Carnegie Hall. Other prominent performances include two gala appearances at Carnegie Hall, one at the White House for then-President Bill Clinton, the St. Petersburg Festival at New York’s Winter Garden, and the opening of the Hermitage exhibit at the Yale Center for British Art.

In 1996, the chorus released “Chants and Carols.” The recording was praised by InTune magazine, proclaimed a “must have” on NPR’s “Performance Today,” and listed among the best recordings of the year by Billboard Magazine and by the Richmond Times. It was also placed on the 1996 New York Times Critics’ Choice list.

Tickets for this event are $10 for a single ticket, $15 for a couple, and $20 for families of three or more. For tickets, please call the church office at (209) 384-0673 or David Aubertin at (209) 617-9389.

The Mercy Outpatient Center is located at 2740 M St. in Merced.

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Yale Russian Chorus to perform next week in Merced."