Alexandrov Ensemble

"Red Army Choir" redirects here. For the Russian ensemble of the National Guard and Ministry of Internal Affairs, see Rosgvardia Academic Song and Dance Ensemble.

A. V. Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army
The Alexandrov Choir with Dance Ensemble, Warsaw 2009
The Alexandrov Choir with Dance Ensemble, Warsaw 2009
Background information
Also known as
  • Alexandrov Ensemble
  • Red Army Choir
  • Red Army Song Ensemble of the M. V. Frunze Red Army Central House
  • Red-Bannered Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble of the USSR
  • A. V. Alexandrov Twice Red-bannered and Red-starred Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army
  • A. V. Alexandrov Twice Red-bannered and Red-starred Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army
GenresClassical, folk tunes, hymns, operatic arias, popular music
Years active1928–present
MembersConductor Gennadiy Sachenyuk [ru]
Past membersValery Khalilov, and 63 other members
Websiteredarmychoir.com Edit this at Wikidata
The Alexandrov Ensemble with Iosif Kobzon as soloist
The Alexandrov Ensemble, Bielsko-Biala, 2006. Victor Sanin on the left, Dmitry Bykov on the right (soloists)

The Alexandrov Ensemble (Russian: Ансамбль Александрова, romanized: Ansambl' Aleksandrova; commonly known as the Red Army Choir[1] in the West) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the ensemble consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble.

The Ensemble has entertained audiences both in Russia and throughout the world, performing a range of music including folk tunes, hymns, operatic arias and popular music. The group's repertoire has included The Volga Boatmen's Song, Katyusha, Kalinka, and Ave Maria.

It is named for its first director, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883–1946). Its formal name since 1998 has been A. V. Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army (Russian: Академи́ческий анса́мбль пе́сни и пля́ски Росси́йской А́рмии и́мени А. В. Алекса́ндрова, romanized: Akademíchesky ansámbl′ pésni i plyáski Rossýskoy Ármii ímeni A. V. Aleksándrova),[2] shortened to Academic Ensemble (Russian: Академи́ческий анса́мбль, romanized: Akademíchesky ansámbl′)[2] on second reference.

On 25 December 2016, its artistic director, Valery Khalilov, and 63 other members of the Ensemble were killed in the Russian Defence Ministry aircraft crash of a 1983 Tupolev Tu-154 into the Black Sea just after takeoff from the southern resort city of Sochi, Russia.[1] The Red Army Choir singers and dancers were en route to Syria to entertain Russian troops there for Orthodox Christmas celebrations.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Russia grounds all its TU-154 planes after crash". RTE.ie. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Академический ансамбль песни и пляски Российской Армии имени А. В. Александрова Archived 3 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Russian)
  3. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (27 December 2016). "Choir in Plane Crash Projects Russian Pride and Soft Power". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 December 2016.