Yale Russian Chorus

The Yale Russian Chorus is a tenor-bass choral ensemble at Yale University, established in 1953 by Denis Mickiewicz, a student at the Yale Music School, and George Litton, president of the Yale Russian Club. The group sings a variety of secular and sacred Slavic choral pieces (and non-Slavic pieces from the former USSR and neighboring regions), from the 12th century onward, including folk songs of Russia and Eastern Europe. The current musical director is Ioann Popov. The YRC was the first American group to visit the Soviet Union as a private initiative, touring the country in 1958 following the signing of the Lacy-Zarubin Agreement on cultural exchange. The YRC made 16 tours to the USSR before the union dissolved in 1991. The ensemble tours domestically every spring. The chorus rehearses for two and a half hours every week, holds concerts in and around New Haven throughout the academic year, and goes on an annual spring tour. Although the majority of its members are Yale undergraduate students, auditions are open to the entire New Haven community. As a tenor-bass chorus, membership is primarily male, but the chorus has also admitted women to sing in the tenor section. The chorus has performed at many venues in Russia and Ukraine, and also many places in the United States, most notably: