by M. Tracey Ober ’85
In April 2003, at the start of the Iraq war, the Yale Alumni Chorus traveled back to Russia at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, to sing at the Kremlin. This was the first time an American chorus had performed in the actual seat of the former Soviet Russia.
This concert was particularly moving because the chorus sang Russian patriotic songs from the conflict they call “The Great War”, with Russian opera star Dmitri Hvorostovsky. We shared the stage with Constantine Orbelian’s Philharmonia of Russia, Russian folk group The Style of Five, and the Spiritual Revival Chorus of Moscow. The Russians were particularly impressed both that the chorus had traveled there in a time of war, and that we had memorized the songs in Russian.
The audience rose to their feet and sang along to “My Moscow”, as tears of joy, peace, and understanding filled the auditorium.
On this tour, we shared a meal and an evening of song and music and fellowship with the Russian musicians and performed for Moscow’s diplomatic community at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence, Spaso House. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow happened to be a Yale alumnus from the Class of 1974 and a singer who performed with us at the Kremlin State Palace.
Yale Alumni Chorus invited to perform at the Kremlin State Palace for a concert on April 8, 2003 of Russian Patriotic Songs of the Great War that was broadcast to an audience of 98 million on Russian public television.