Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum" Intrada Vocal Ensemble, Ekaterina Antonenko, Daria Khrisanova

• Sergey Akhunov (b. 1967): Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum":
• 1 Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum": I. Exegi monumentum 05:24
• 2 Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum": II. Non omnis moriar 05:27
• 3 Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum": III. Dicar 02:27
• 4 Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum": IV. Sume superbiam 05:44
• Total Runtime 19:02

Info for Akhunov: Choir Concerto "Exegi monumentum"

At the end of February 2022, at the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Sergey Akhunov began composing an Adagio ‘Prayer for Peace’, echoing Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings. Built around the interplay of instrumental textures, the work was quickly completed and recorded by the OpensoundOrchestra, conducted by Stanislav Malyshev.

Three other compositions for solo choir revolve around this core, performed by the Intrada ensemble under the direction of Ekaterina Antonenko. These include the Concerto ‘Exegi monumentum’, based on Horace's ode and dedicated to the Armenian sculptor and painter Nikolai Nikogosyan, as well as Two Latin Psalms and Psalm 83, inspired by the Znamenny tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church and combining Latin and Slavonic liturgies.

In the complex interweaving of vocal and instrumental lines, Akhunov deploys a contemplative and moving polyphony, in which each part, as part of a whole, takes on meaning in its relationship to the others.

INTRADA Vocal Ensemble
Ekaterina Antonenko, conductor
OpensoundOrchestra
Stanislav Malyshev, conductor
Roman Vikulov, violin 1
Narine Nanayan, violin 2
Darya Filippenko, viola
Olga Kalinova, cello

INTRADA Vocal Ensemble
is a leading Russian-based vocal ensemble of a new generation directed by Ekaterina Antonenko. «Due to high professionalism, faultless taste and perfect diction» («Classica.FM»). Intrada is considered to be «the best Moscow choir today» («Musical Life», 2018). INTRADA was named Ensemble of the Year in 2019 and 2021 («Musical review»).

INTRADA enjoys performing in collaboration with world-renowned artists – «The Tallis Scholars» and Peter Phillips, «Il Giardino Armonico» and Giovanni Antonini, «Le Poème Harmonique» and Vincent Dumestre, «I Fagiolini» and Robert Hollingworth, VOCES8, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Vladimir Jurowski, Frieder Bernius, Hans-Christoph Rademann etc.

Reviving Russian-Ukrainian baroque music in collaboration with leading scholars INTRADA gives world premiere performances of works by Vasily Titov, Vasily Gusev, Gerasim Zavadovsky etc.

INTRADA performed at the Schlosskapelle Dresden in the frames of «Dresdner Kunstfest 2015». INTRADA appeared at the Musikfest Erzgebirge 2016 and at the Dresden Music Festival in 2017 and 2019. Following an invitation of the Deutschlandsradio Kultur the group performed at the Wartburg Castle in 2018. INTRADA appeared in the first concert series of the Lausitz-Festival in 2019. In 2021 the group gave online-concerts at the Live From London – Christmas festival and Musikfest Stuttgart. In 2022 INTRADA gave its debut concert at the Berlin Philharmonic.

INTRADA premiered a number of contemporary music compositions in Russia, including works by Steve Reich, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, Caroline Shaw, etc. In 2014 a joint concert of the Tallis Scholars and Intrada dedicated to the memory of Sir John Tavener took place at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory featuring the second world performance of Tavener’s «Requiem Fragments» (Julia Lezhneva, solo soprano). The group performed world premieres of works by Klaus Lang, Alexey Sysoev, Ivan Moody, etc.

Ekaterina Antonenko
was born in Moscow into a family of Jewish provinence. Her great-grandfather was a cantor in the synagogue in mestechko Kotelnya, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine.

Ekaterina studied choir conducting at the Moscow Academic Music College (Prof. Irina Usova) and Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Prof. Vladimir Sukhanov). In 2010-2012 Ekaterina was granted a DAAD scholarship for study at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (Prof. Marcus Creed). In 2013 Ekaterina made her Ph.D. in musicology («Church music of Baldassare Galuppi»). From 2012 Ekaterina teaches at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

In 2011 upon the invitation of Peter Phillips Ekaterina conducted The Tallis Scholars in the Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. In 2015 she assisted Hans-Christoph Rademann at rehearsals of the Penitential Psalms by Alfred Schnittke with the RIAS Kammerchor. Ekaterina instructed the Dresdner Kammerchor for the performance of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast at the Wratislavia Cantans festival 2015 and for the Commemorating concert of the Kristallnacht with works by Schnittke and Samuel Adler at the Frauenkirche, Dresden (2018). In 2019 Ekaterina instructed Europa Chor Akademie for the performance at the Martha Argerich Festival in Laeiszhalle (Hamburg) under Charles Dutoit. In 2022 led the PaTRAM Male Choir concert tour in Israel.

Founded in 2006 by Ekaterina Antonenko Intrada Vocal Ensemble has gained a reputation of «the best Moscow choir today» («Musical life», 2018).

OpensoundOrchestra
is an orchestra specialising in the performance of contemporary music. The collective was founded in 2018 by violinist and conductor Stanislav Malyshev and cellist Olga Kalinova. The name Opensound is a metaphor for the wide variety of music the collective performs. The orchestra's repertoire includes works by Russian and foreign composers of various genres. The professionalism of the musicians allows the ensemble to easily transform from a symphony orchestra to an ensemble of soloists.

One of the priority areas of OpensoundOrchestra is the performance of works by young Russian composers. The ensemble initiated the PULSE concert series at the Zaryadye Concert Hall, where works by young composers specially written for this project were performed alongside contemporary scores by well-known composers. As part of the PULSE concert series, OpensoundOrchestra has performed 12 world premieres and 6 Russian premieres. By commissioning new works, the orchestra actively participates in the Russian Composers' Union's programme “Notes and Quotas”, which is aimed at supporting young contemporary composers.

An important part of the group's activity is co-operation with film composers - Yuri Poteenko, Anna Drubich, Ivan Burlyaev, Alexei Aigi and others. OpensoundOrchestra has recorded music for more than 30 films, among them new releases and hits of the Russian box office ‘Challenge’, ‘Cheburashka’, ‘White Snow’, ‘Master and Margarita’. The orchestra's musicians give lectures for composers at the Moscow Film School, and every year the orchestra records works by its graduates. OpensoundOrchestra also takes part in the ArtMasters National Open Championship of Creative Competences, where young talents in the creative industries present their projects.

The orchestra regularly performs at festivals and awards such as The Art Newspaper Russia (2019), Origen (Switzerland, 2019), Pure Sound (Moscow, 2021), Chamber Festival of the Russian Composers' Union “Five Evenings” (2021, 2022), Golden Eagle (Moscow, 2022), New Classics Festival (Moscow, 2022), Shostakovich. XX century’ (Samara, 2022), festival of electroacoustic and multimedia music “Biomechanics” (2022), Moscow Winter Music Festival in Zaryadye (Moscow, 2022, 2023), festival “Zerkalo” (Yuryevets, 2022, 2023), festival “Transfiguration” (Yaroslavl, 2023), Chess&jazz (Moscow, 2023), Moscow Urban Forum (Moscow, 2023), Pictures at an Exhibition Festival (Nizhny Novgorod, 2023, 2024), International Youth Festival (Sochi, 2024), International Chamber Music Festival VIVARTE (Moscow, 2024), International Exhibition-Forum ‘Russia’ (Moscow, 2024).

Translated with www.DeepL.com/The collective has performed world premieres of works by Russian composers Vladimir Martynov, Nastasya Khrushcheva and Nikolai Popov. In 2024, Sergei Akhunov's ballet Liturgy was staged at the Zaryadye Hall together with the contemporary dance theatre Cannon Dance and the Intrada vocal ensemble.

OpensoundOrchestra cooperates with such musicians as Alexei Lyubimov, Polina Osetinskaya, Vadim Repin, Boris Andrianov, Dmitry Illarionov, Tatiana Grindenko, Yana Dyakova, Nadezhda Pavlova, Dmitry Selipanov, Therr Maitz, Marimba Plus, LRK Trio, Moscow Art Trio, Intrada Vocal Ensemble. OpensoundOrchestra is a regular participant of the LAB project with Anton Belyaev.

In 2021, OpensoundOrchestra realised the innovative Carbon Project, becoming the first orchestra in the world whose musicians played carbon instruments. In 2024, the ensemble took part in the presentation of the SberBoom speaker, performing a piece in duet with the virtual assistant Salute. OpensoundOrchestra also collaborates with Yandex.

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