Do you remember that wacky movie?
Well, these Russians are the St. Petersburg Mens Ensemble. They performed at our church, Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church last Sunday. It was wonderful to have them. We were one of the host families to offer acccomodations to one of the musicians. They sing a capella but also have one member who plays the button accordion. They will be in our country singing at churches all over. This is the third year of visiting our church. Here is a You Tube video from 2007 so you can hear how beautifully they sing.
They are (left to right) Evgeny (Eugene in English), Vadim, Kirill (the group's leader). The accordionist is Alexander. Here is another video with Alexander playing the button accordion. They all spoke wonderful English. They used infomercials to study inflection and pronunciation. I was impressed with their English skills. But more than that, their singing was so enjoyable. The songs, some composed by Kirill, were sung in Russian. Their voices are amazing and they complement each other so well. Evgeny is 1st tenor, Vadim is 2nd tenor and Kirill is a baritone. The group sometimes travels with another Alexander who is also a singer.
Of course, what visit to America would be complete without a visit to Starbucks. I kidded Eugene. "you look like a surfer in that T-shirt and shorts". He really did.
We hosted Vadim and it was so much fun to talk to him about Russian. My husband and I were stationed in London in the 70s and had a chance to go to Moscow. This was durinig the cold war. Some Russians were afraid of us and others wanted to buy our blue jeans. We told Vadim our stories about walking through Red Square and a chance encounter with a couple who said they were "students" from Kiev. My husband still thinks that they were KGB agents. LOL.
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