Timeline
1950s
1953-1954
The Yale Russian Chorus formed by Denis Mickiewicz (founding conductor) and George Litton (Russian Club president) as an offshoot of the Yale Russian Club.
May 13, 1954
First public performance of the YRC in Yale’s Hall of Graduate Studies.
1958
Summer
First tour to USSR following the signing of the Lacy‐Zarubin Agreement on cultural exchange between USA and USSR in January 1958. First American group to visit USSR as a private initiative. YRCʹs first experiences in cultural exchange, singing informal ʺconcertsʺ for Russians and discussing everything imaginable.
Fall
First YRC record (LP) issued under Carillon label (produced by Yale’s Elliott Kone).
1960s
April 24, 1960
YRC serenaded French President Charles de Gaulle outside Blair House in Washington DC during a chance meeting while Chorus was in Washington for a concert. De Gaulle came over, shook hands with a few singers and said in English “Good luck, Yale!”
1962
June
YRC won first prize at the Lille Festival international de chant choral. Prize included recording an LP with Philips.
August
YRC sang Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus at the Berlin Wall after a young East German, Peter Fechter, had been shot a few days before, trying to cross into West Berlin.
Fall 1969
Spin-off group formed, the Yale Slavic Chorus, a women's group performing Eastern European and Balkan music. Bill Robbins (YRC '70; later known as Celo V’ec) was the first conductor. The Yale Russian Chorus and Slavic Chorus have regularly collaborated since.
1970s
March 1977
Seventh tour of USSR, with the Citizens Exchange Corps. Tour stops included Leningrad, Tbilisi, Moscow, and Kiev. Joint performance with the Moscow State University Chorus in the Great Hall of the Moscow House of Friendship is videotaped and broadcast nationwide on Soviet TV. YRC sang Bortnyansky’s music in his hall in the Glinka Kapella and sang in Tchaikovsky Hall in Kiev.
1979
Another spin off group is formed: Paul Andrews’ Slavyanka Chorus, based out of San Francisco. Slavyanka has been regularly active since and has included many Yale Russian Chorus alumni.
1980s
1983
Bruce Lieberman’s New York Russian Chorus formed out of YRC alumni, mostly utilizing YRC music.
1984
Winter
Tour to Midwest, including a performance on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion in Minneapolis, including a Russian version of the “Powder Milk Biscuits” song.
Summer
10th Tour to USSR and Europe. In Warsaw the Chorus encountered members of the Solidarity movement and learned their anthem. In Germany, Chorus member Bob Fischelis arranged for Chrous to crash the inaugural party of the newly elected President of West Germany, Richard von Weizsäcker.
1984-1985
Georgian spin‐off groups formed by former YRC singers in Minneapolis and Boston: the Kartuli Ensemble and Iveria. Kartuli has toured Georgia repeatedly, appearing on Georgian national television and has itself spun off groups in various US cities.
December 1987
The Chorus sang at a US State Department luncheon in Washington, DC for General Secretary and Mrs. Gorbachev. George Schultz quipped that, although a Princeton man himself, one thing that Yalies do well is to sing Russian music.
1990s
1993
First YRC tour to Russia and Ukraine post Soviet Union. 40th Anniversary concert is also held in Woolsey Hall.
September 1994
YRC sang for the Yeltsins and Clintons at the White House, Washington, D.C.
2000s
October 25, 2003
YRC Alumni performed 50th Anniversary Gala Concert as part of Yale’s celebration of and conference on the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg. Current YRC sang 6-7 songs as well. Exhibit on YRC history set up in Sterling Memorial Library.
August 2007
Showing of Khoristoria, Catherine Mattingly’s new documentary film about the YRC, at the Woods Hole Film Festival at Woods Hole MA.
2010s
July 2016
The Chorus traveled to Verona, Italy, and participated in a series of concerts as part of the Festival Internazionale Corale Verona Garda Estate
October 2018
65th Anniversary Concert at Woolsey Hall. Over 100 singers participated and the performance included Denis Mickiewicz in his last appearance as conductor on stage.
Summer 2019
Joint tour of Russia with YRC. Performances were centered in and around Moscow, including at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and the US Ambassador’s residence, Spaso House.