An organ and choral concert

Chorus Artistic Director and Conductor – Nadezhda Averina
Chorus-Mistress and Accompanist – Irina Volosovtseva

The senior chorus of the Ponomaryov Children’s School of Music Spring celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in March 2015. The school’s founder and Artistic Director for almost fifty years was Alexander Ponomaryov (1938–2012). Since 2012 the chorus and the school have been directed by Nadezhda Averina, a student of Ponomaryov.
The ensemble has been a prize-winner at prestigious international competitions, taking the Grand Prix of Europe – 2000 for choruses of all categories and ages. The musicians have appeared in over fifty towns and cities throughout Russia, almost every country in Europe, Japan, China and Canada.
Each year the Spring chorus gives concerts at the Great and Rachmaninoff Halls of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Svetlanov Hall of the House of Music and other acclaimed venues of the Russian capital. The ensemble collaborates with renowned soloists and conductors, among them Vladimir Fedoseyev, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Minin and Alexander Buzlov. The chorus’ repertoire includes works by Mozart, Schubert, Handel, Poulenc, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rachmaninoff, Sviridov, Chesnokov and Rubin among other composers. The Spring chorus actively collaborates with Efrem Podgaits, many of whose works were specifically composed for the ensemble. These include the chorus and piano concerto The Seasons, New York Mass, Missa veris and the cantata How to Draw a Bird among other works.
Programmes by the chorus have been recorded on discs and on radio and television. In recent years the Spring chorus has released thirteen discs.