Leningrad Academic Choir

(full name, the M. I. Glinka Leningrad Academic Choir), the oldest professional Russian choral group. It was founded in Moscow in 1479 as the male choir of the “royal singing scribes.” It was reorganized as the mixed Court Choir in 1701 and moved by Peter I from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1703. In 1763 it was renamed the Court Singing Choir. In addition to singing in church, the choir and soloists took part in court operatic performances and various concerts. The choir was a center of Russian choral art. Its directors included such Russian composers and music figures as D. S. Bortnianskii, F. P. L’vov, A. F. L’vov, N. I. Bakhmetev, M. A. Balakirev, and A. S. Arenskii.

In 1918 the choir became the People’s Choral Academy; in 1922 it became known as the State Academic Choir, and the name of M. I. Glinka was conferred upon it in 1954. It is a mixed chorus. The repertoire includes works of Soviet composers, classical Russian and Western European choral music, and folk songs; the choir also performs cantatas and oratorios. Its directors included such Soviet choirmasters as M. G. Klimov, A. V. Sveshnikov, G. A. Dmitrevskii, and A. I. Anisimov; since 1974 it has been under the direction of V. A. Chernushenko. The choir gives concerts in the cities of the USSR and abroad.