Moscow Oratorio Summer Concert 2020

Concert and application form
Concert and application form

Dear Friends!

The Moscow Oratorio Society, the oldest international choir in post-Soviet Russia (since 1993, www.moscoworatorio.com; www.youtube.com/user/moscoworatorio) offers a new and unique opportunity for "advanced" amateur choral singers from around the world to participate in the first international summer choral concert in Moscow, Russia.

The first and only Festival Concert in the coming year will be held in early July 2020 on one of the most illustrious stages of Moscow and the world – the Grand Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, or in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.

As part of this event, you will have the unique opportunity to combine performances in Russia's capital city with one of Moscow's best symphony orchestras – the Moscow Symphony Orchestra – and renowned soloists from Moscow's leading opera companies, with a full tourist programme in the warmth of a Moscow summer.

You can spend four unforgettable days full of fascinating events, combining choir and orchestral rehearsals culminating in our concert, with visits to the most famous sights which Moscow has to offer. We will show you the Kremlin, the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell, the Armoury and the Diamond Fund (by prior request), Red Square, and the justly famed Saint Basil's Cathedral. You will be able to visit a choice of several fine art museums, and explore Moscow's underground palaces in its Metro, enjoy an evening tour of the city, and revel in an evening cruise on the floodlit Moscow River.

After the concert we will hold a gala dinner at one of Moscow's pleasant restaurants (perhaps with Georgian cuisine), where you will be able to get to know each other, establish partnerships with colleagues from different groups and countries, set up future contacts, and perhaps even sing for each other!

Programme

We invite amateur choirs from mid to advanced level, who regularly rehearse and give concerts in their home country, to take part in this festival concert, on the basis of viewing the rehearsal and concert videos you send in.

The concert programme is as follows:

First half

Each group will be able to give its own programme with its conductor, soloists and pianist.

The programme will be agreed with the inviting party. The duration for each performance will be announced later, depending on the number of choirs which take part.

Second half

The choirs will join in a performance of the expansive, incredibly beautiful, yet rarely performed, Requiem by the Italian 19th century composer Giovanni Bottesini.

The Moscow Oratorio Society invites you to prepare the music at home (we will provide the selected choirs with the full score of the Bottesini in electronic form) and then come to the joint rehearsals and performance in Moscow.

Over three days there will be two joint choir rehearsals with piano accompaniment (four hours each), and then a joint rehearsal with the soloists and orchestra, under the direction of Moscow Oratorio's permanent artistic director and conductor Alexander Tsaliuk.

On the day of the concert there will be a run-through on stage, and then the concert performance will be given.

Tickets will be sold at a large discount, and part of the proceeds will be given to charity.

Participation conditions and cost

To take part in this project you will have to pay an organisational fee which will cover:

  1. Joint rehearsals in Moscow for all the choirs, and a dress rehearsal on the concert stage.

  2. The concert in the Grand Hall accompanied by the symphony orchestra and professional soloists, accompanist and conductor.

  3. Gala dinner after the concert.

  4. We will provide you with the necessary invitations to obtain visas for the Russian Federation.

In addition, you will have to pay for:

  1. Visa

  2. Insurance

  3. Travel

  4. Meals

  5. Accommodation

  6. Excursions.

If you are interested in this proposal and would like to take part, please complete the online form below, and our manager will contact you and give you full information about the participation conditions and cost.

Application form