In Russia there’s a song and dance troupe, which is made up of the most excellent meritorious performers and dancers, recognised as the most time-honoured and largest-scale military art ensemble in all of Russia. The Alexandrov Ensemble, a strong-minded team, has gone through the test of time, wars and air crashes, and remains standing tall. On January 4^th-7^th, the Alexandrov Ensemble will perform after its “rebirth from the ashes,” to make its first tour of China at the NCPA (National Centre for the Performing Arts) stage.

The Alexandrov Ensemble was founded in 1928, formerly known as the Soviet Red Army Choir. Its founder is talented conductor Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, the composer of Soviet national anthem, who composed many excellent works during the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, of which the most representative one is The Sacred War, which was created during World War II and later honoured as “a musical monument to the Great Patriotic War”. After the war, the Alexandrov Ensemble made frequent performing tours worldwide in its capacity as an outstanding representative of the Soviet army. On November 3^rd, 1952, the Alexandrov Ensemble paid its first visit to China, and in the ensuing 60 years, it had paid many visits to the country and gave touring performances in more than 20 Chinese cities, winning wide acclaimed from Chinese audiences.

The male choir at the Alexandrov Ensemble is considered one of the world’s best choirs and they are unequalled in voice inflections and artistic appeal. They have more than 2,000 different styles of songs in their repertoire.

On December 25^th, 2016, a military aircraft belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed on its way to Syria, and all on board, including 84 passengers and eight crew members, died in the crash. 64 of the victims were from the Alexandrov Ensemble of Russia... Countless fans of theirs were shocked to hear the shocking news and worried that they could no longer enjoy viewing the troupe’s unique artistic performances. Nonetheless, the troupe was reorganized within a short time and will return to the stage in 2018. As Alexandrov Ensemble’s troupe song The Song of Alexandrov says, “As long as Russia is there, our songs will be there with it!”

Alexandrov Ensemble will give 24 wonderful singing, dancing and instrumental performances in the first half and second half. The choristers will sing inspiring military songs Invincible and Legendary, The Sacred War and Onwards, ballads Sacred Baikal, Peddlers and Kalinka, and beautiful melodies that are still fresh in Chinese people’s memories, including Katyusha and Moscow Nights. The dancers will perform traditional dances with distinct local characteristics such as Cossack, Festival March, Moldova Dance and The Collection of Russian National Dances. The orchestra of Alexandrov Ensemble will accompany the performers on many songs and dances on the stage, and play music for Russian Dance, a piece of the ballet Swan Lake. Performers will play beautiful music of nature with Russian folk instruments balalaika and bayan in coordination with Western wind instruments.

An extra show will be given at the NCPA on the afternoon of January 6^th, so more spectators can enjoy the Alexandrov Ensemble’s performance here in China.