Vasily Gerello and Rossiya Ensemble

PERFORMERS:
Vasily Gerello
Rossiya Ensemble
Conductor: Dmitry Dmitrienko

PROGRAMME:
Russian, Ukrainian and Italian songs and romances; works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Niccolò Paganini, Vera Gorodovskaya, Alexander Tsygankov, Yevgeny Trostyansky, Vasily Andreyev

The “Russia” State academic Russian folk ensemble was founded in 1977 on the initiative of the legendary Russian singer Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina, People’s Artist of the USSR. In 1968 she was on tour in the USA with the Osipov National Academic Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments; there she met the renowned impresario Sol Hurok who, impressed by the concert, advised her to establish her own compact ensemble, fundamentally of soloists but also with the function of accompaniment. On returning to Moscow, the project was joined by the experienced musician Roman Matskevich who was destined to become the first “gatherer” of the future ensemble. The orchestra was “christened” in the USA, where the musicians gave more than forty concerts and travelled literally across the entire country, including appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York.
After this trip, Lyudmila Zykina resolved to make the ensemble a permanent one with sufficient mobility. It was structured around balalaika player Alexander Fyodorov (a virtuoso and pupil of Pavel Necheporenko), bayan player Yuri Kalashnik, guitarist Gennady Razuvaev and double bass player Andrei Yegorov. Later the ensemble was to be joined by such People’s Artists of the Russian Federation as Vera Gorodovskaya (gusli) and Vladimir Krasnoyartsev (domra), Honoured Artists of the Russian Federation Oleg Budankov (percussion), Vladimir Smolyanitsky (oboe), Viktor Smoly (bayan), Viktor Kalinsky (domra), Vladimir Kalinsky (balalaika), Sergei Golovko (percussion), Vladimir Pirsky and Viktor Kormakov (bayan), Dmitry Tsarenko (balalaika), Georgy Yermolin and Vitaly Nesterenko (domra) as well as the ensemble’s leader Yevgenia Mamaeva.
Over the course of thirty years, the “Russia” ensemble headed by Lyudmila Zykina was one of the country’s finest touring ensembles, and today it appears to unfailing acclaim at the most prestigious venues in addition to representing Russian folk music internationally. In 2009 the “Russia” ensemble’s name expanded to include that of Lyudmila Zykina. The orchestra proudly bears the name of this magnificent 20^th century singer who formed an entire era in song of unique vocal masterpieces.
The current Artistic and General Director and Principal Conductor of the ensemble is Dmitry Dmitrienko, a prize-winner at all-Russian and international competitions.
The Lyudmila Zykina “Russia” ensemble frequently performs concerts, appearing at major concert halls both in Moscow (including the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the State Kremlin Palace, the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, the Moscow International House of Music, the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and the Moscow State Estrada Theatre) and in regions throughout Russia. Such stars of the stage music as Iosif Kobzon, Elina Bystritskaya, Alla Bayanova, Mark Almond, Nikolai Baskov, Vasily Ovsyannikov, Alexander Tsygankov, Andrei Gorbachev and Alexei Arkhipovsky to name but a few have appeared with the ensemble. Performances by the Lyudmila Zykina “Russia” ensemble are tremendously popular with both the broader public and professionals and lovers of folk music.
The ensemble initiates and organises important concerts dedicated to outstanding figures from Russian folk culture, among them the concert Dedicated to Lydia Ruslanova (November 2010), the festival Andreyevsky Stars (January 2011) and the festival Dedicated to Lyudmila Zykina (November 2011).
22 November 2011 witnessed the incredibly successful opening of the first all-Russian folk art festival Dedicated to Lyudmila Zykina which saw the participation of such acclaimed Russian performers as Elina Bystritskaya, Iosif Kobzon, Anna Litvinenko, Vasily Ovsyannikov, Mikhail Kizin, Yekaterina Guseva, Nadezhda Krygina and such leading Russian choral ensembles as the State Academic North Russian Folk Chorus, Maidens of Voronezh and Indian Summer.
The ensemble places great importance on working with young audiences. A series of concerts at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys dedicated to the work of Lydia Andreyevna Ruslanova, Viktor Fyodorovich Bokov and Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov took place at the institute’s packed house of culture (the auditorium seats one thousand four hundred people).
The Lyudmila Zykina “Russia” ensemble regularly works with professional composers including Alexandra Pakhmutova, Yevgeny Ptichkin, Alexander Dolukhanian, Alexander Averkin, Grigory Ponomarenko, Vadim Gamalia, Andrei Eshpai, Serafim Tulikov, Oscar Feltsman, Viktor Temnov, Yevgeny Derbenko, Yefrem Podgaits, Vladimir Belyaev, Mikhail Gorobtsov, Alexander Tsygankov and Alexander Marchakovsky. On numerous occasions works by contemporary composers have been premiered at the ensemble’s concerts.
The principal aim of the Lyudmila Zykina “Russia” ensemble’s creative activities is to maintain and develop the performing traditions of Russian folk music and bring together talented and gifted young musicians who believe in the unique artistic movement of the universally admired singer Lyudmila Zykina.