The Folklore Ensemble of the St Petersburg Conservatoire was founded in 1976 by Anatoly Mekhnetsov at the Centre for Folklore and Ethnography. Today the ensemble consists of students and teachers of the Ethnomusicology Department at the Conservatoire.
The repertoire includes old lyrics, round, wedding and calendar songs and dances and instrumental music, recorded during folk expeditions to different parts of Russia (the far north, Siberia and the regions of Pskov, Smolensk, Novgorod, Tver and Bryansk). The ensemble has received awards at many Russian and international competitions (2012, 2013, 2014). It regularly performs at folk festivals and concerts.
