Famous Russian Orchestra Performs at OBU

Article Date

October 10, 2005

European culture and elite musical talent will grace the Oklahoma Baptist University campus as the world-renowned Chamber Orchestra Kremlin will perform on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m., in Raley Chapel's Yarborough Auditorium.

The orchestra, featuring some of Russia's finest young string players, will be giving two school concerts during the day for area public schools.

"It is a great privilege to have an orchestra comprised of such highly-trained musicians on our campus," said Dr. Paul Hammond, dean of OBU's Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts. "I am especially pleased that Shawnee and Tecumseh public schools are co-sponsoring the orchestra's concerts and that students from both communities will get to hear the orchestra that morning."

Founded in 1991, the orchestra was created under the direction of Misha Rachlevsky, who returned to Moscow after leaving the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Rachlevsky also founded the New American Chamber Orchestra, leading it to international prominence with tours in the United States and Europe.

Guest conducting in Moscow in the early 1990s brought Rachelevsky back to his birthplace, and after he was approached by Claves, a Swiss recording company, to do a project of Russian works, the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin soon developed.

The orchestra has received rave reviews from critics around the world, including The Glasgow Herald. The Scotland newspaper described the orchestra as "Absolutely together throughout, the ensemble playing was stunning. Three encores emerged through a rapturous ovation."

"The sheer amount and velvety warmth of sound was thrilling," offers the San Francisco Classical Voice. "You might well think you were hearing the entire string section of the Boston Symphony."

In addition to an active schedule of presenting concerts and festivals in Moscow, the orchestra tours regularly in North and South America, Europe and the Far East.