Our story began in June 2001 at a concert given by Irina Sadovnikova's students, when she decided to experiment with their parents. As a result, they learned and performed Antonio Lotti's "Miserere" in half an hour.
When the need arose to perform Russian folk music at a Russian piano competition in San Jose, Irina decided to continue the experiment with the parents and their children. They happily agreed, enthusiastically learned the folk songs, and performed twice at the competition events.
Then Irina wanted to shift from folk repertoire to classical. She met with unexpected resistance from the young ensemble: people doubted whether, so far from home, it was worth switching from Russian folk repertoire to Western European music. But after learning and performing a few pieces, they changed their minds.
The tireless experimenter Irina decided to go further and proposed staging Alexander Dargomyzhsky's opera "Rusalka." At this, people grew anxious and tried to convince Irina that they could somehow manage classical choruses, but a whole opera - never, no way. It's hard to believe now: they refused to sing solo arias and wanted to take part only in the choruses! But judging by the audience's reaction - our loyal friends and relatives - we pulled it off! And when the applause died down and the audience started asking, "What's next?", we realized we had a future. Six years later, after more than 700 spectators had passed through our home over 12 performances of "Nord-Ost," we called ourselves a Theater.
From the very first days, talented designers and costume and set makers have worked with us. Without their many hours of selfless work, our theater would never have come to be. How wonderful that we have a shared cause that has kept us together for so many years! Over the years we've built up a lot of interesting material, and it's time to bring it all together in one place. Welcome to our website!
A few short videos from our earliest history:
- June 2001: "Miserere"
- June 2002: Russian folk music, rehearsal at home, and performance at La Petit Trianon, San Jose.
- December 2002: a chorus from Handel's "Messiah" and the "Smugglers' Quintet" from Bizet's opera "Carmen."
- 2004: Choruses from the opera "The Snow Maiden" in a children's production by Marina Tsykina.