August 20, 2004
St Petersberg Times (Russia)
The light-hearted harmonies of barbershop singing can once again be heard in St. Petersburg this week as the Fifth International Festival "Barbershop Harmony" kicks off on Aug. 19th at the Glazunov Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, featuring performances by American and Russian quartets and choirs. This year's participants hail from a wide area - from the United States to Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia, and even Yakutia. Traditionally, the festival introduces an array of American choirs and groups. This time, look for "Voices of the South" (Alabama), female quartet "Ms. Behavin" (Colorado), quartet "Vocal Spectrum" (Missouri) and female quartet "Escapade" (Florida).
Joining them will be the female quartet "Summer Time" from Petrozavodsk, the "Chorus Quartet" from Perm, the quartet "The Shining Faces" from Rostov-on-Don, "Nota Bene" from St. Petersburg and "Skai" from Yakutsk.
The Siberian singers all have a classical background in the Yakutsk Opera and Ballet Theater - and count among the newly converted to barbershop singing. "We have been rehearsing for several months only," said the group's leading tenor Stanislav Ivanov. "I fell in love with barbershop on a recent trip to the United States, and upon my return I've infected my colleagues with the barbershop bug."
Why do Russians like barbershop singing? Alexander Nikitin, a professor with the Magnitogorsk Conservatory and artistic director of "Solovushki Magnikti" (The Nightingales of Magnitka) quartet, believes the magnetism of barbershop is in the combination of vocal and performing arts. "The incorporation of spontaneous choreographic elements into the singing performance should, in fact, be very appealing to the Russians: as a Russian popular wisdom has it, a song needs to be played," Nikitin said. "Thinking about that, I always wondered, why on earth do most Russian singers perform with such deadly dull and serious expressions in their faces." No dull faces, certainly, will be expected at the Barbershop Harmony Festival.
Posted by acapnews at August 20, 2004 8:37 AM
