UK Russian Singing Class Presents Concert, Tea
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 9, 2019) — Students in a University of Kentucky Russian singing class will literally give voice to Russian culture in concert. The program, including a Russian tea with refreshments, will be presented 5 p.m. today (Monday, Dec. 9), in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library. This event is free and open to the public.
The class is the brainchild of Anna Voskresensky, senior lecturer in Russian studies in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures, who was looking for an idea to enhance classroom activities and skills broadly as well as introduce students to culture. In collaboration with UK School of Music in the College of Fine Arts, Voskresensky created a Russian singing class.
The innovative Russian course has now been offered 12 times since the spring semester of 2014 and is available to students of all levels and community members. Students can, and often, repeat the course because every semester they learn new songs. In total, 120 songs have been taught and sung.
The advantages of the Russian singing course is it increases students’ ability to understand, know and reproduce lexical items at the level of word and phrase, gain ease in comprehension and expression, and reach greater awareness of the cultural implications.
The event will benefit both the students and audience. “The Russian Singing Concert is an opportunity to hear the rich culture of Russian music and offer an appreciation for the students’ hard work over the course of the semester,” Voskresensky said. “In addition, the concert will engage the audience and spark awareness about Russia and the country’s history.”
This year’s performance will showcase the vocal talents of students Juan Ahumada, Mark Hoskins, Michael Naughton, Denis Skoroplyas, Nick Swetnam, Anthony Trufanov, Sarah Wood and Garrison Wright. The group will be accompanied by pianist Fengchen Li.
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