As soon as the first notes spilled from the mouths of the vocal quintet Lyra at the Grace Episcopal Church this past Sunday, one knew immediately that this was no ordinary a cappella group. The five members of the ensemble from St. Petersburg, Russia, are all highly trained and extremely talented singers who perform professionally both in church choirs and as soloists for opera companies in Russia.
The group of three men and two women stopped at the Vineyard as part of an 80-day American tour, and represent a larger community of professional singers who travel in various combinations around Russia, and throughout Europe and the United States. Most are students or graduates of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory who are dedicated to bringing Russian sacred music and traditional folk songs to audiences all over the world.
According to the organization’s website, “Through our performances, we want to introduce the enormous musical heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as traditions of Russian folk music, to all people who are interested in Russia, its history and culture.”
For the Grace Church concert, the Lyra members began with a series of harmonized hymns drawn from the repertoire of sacred music performed in Russian Orthodox Church services. The selection included works by 18th, 19th, and 20th century Russian composers. The quintet’s leader and spokesperson, Sergey Tupitsyn, explained the provenance of each song and imparted a good deal of information about the group’s native church.
He explained that musical instruments have no place in the rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church. “Our church is a singing church,” he said. Since vocalizations — provided by the choir, clergy, and congregation — make up such a big part of the services (which can run anywhere from two to six hours and are conducted with the congregation standing throughout), singers are highly valued and extensively trained.
This level of talent and dedication was obvious in the Vineyard performance. The voices, from soprano to basso, were truly impressive, the harmonizing perfect. The songs themselves ranged from angelic to powerfully dramatic.
For the second part of the program, the performers changed into colorful traditional costumes while the tone switched from solemn and spiritual to fun and lively. The songs centered on romance, peasant life, and folk tales. The audience was helped along by brief descriptions of the stories preceding each song, and the performers tapped their musical theater skills by dancing and acting out some of the action.
The introductions to the individual pieces, in both the sacred and folk music sections, injected a deal of humor into the program.
As the group leader explained, the word “lyra” translates as inspiration and romance — a perfect description of the group and its performance.
Grace Church’s musical director, Wes Nagy, was responsible for bringing the ensemble to the Island. He hopes to present further musical evenings.
“The church has changed a lot in the past six months,” said Mr. Nagy in an interview after the concert. “Father Brian [Murdoch, the new priest] has breathed a lot of new life into the church. I’m grateful that he has been very much on board with my musical ambitions.”