SYDNEY: 23 May, 2025
The Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia performed a concert at Sydney’s City Recital Hall

On the evening of Sunday, May 18, 2025, an event took place in the heart of Sydney, in the renowned City Recital Hall, which will undoubtedly go down in the cultural annals of Australia. More than 700 listeners witnessed a musical miracle - an inspired, stunning concert that united the Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Representatives of the Russian Federation's diplomatic mission in Australia, as well as Russian public figures from New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, attended the concert.

This evening became a true celebration of spirit, strength, and beauty – a symphony of memory, faith, and tradition. The stage was illuminated by two ensembles, each of which has already earned a high reputation. The Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia, consisting of 23 singers, and the Sydney Concert Orchestra, with more than 50 musicians, united in a common impulse to perform.

The Fourth Symphony of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky sounded majestically, reflecting the tragedy, struggle, and light inherent to the Russian soul. Following that were folk and Cossack songs familiar to everyone from childhood: "Kalinka," "Moscow Nights," "Raspberry Bell," "Horse” and "Farewell to Slavianka." Their performance became a hymn to eternal beauty and historical memory. Each piece was met with thunderous applause, and the hall erupted with cries of "Bravo!"

The solo performances were a special delight: the deep bass-profundo of Alexander Dmitriev, the soul-piercing tenor of Alexey Zheludev, the expressive baritone of Lavrenty Boikov, as well as the pure and powerful voices of brothers Nektarii and Antonii Kotlaroff. The premiere also shocked the audience: young Ioann Kulikov performed the song "Bell" for the first time — his pure soprano, filled with light and lyricism, touched hearts to tears.

The musical intensity, deep expressiveness, and spiritual power — everything in this concert echoed the best traditions of Russian choral art. I had only felt such power during a pilgrimage to Serbia, which were marked in 2024 by the Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia. Two weeks in the holy Serbian land became a vivid testimony of genuine service to Russian culture abroad.

The founder of the choir is Nektariy Kotlaroff, a fifth-generation descendant of Russians from China. His work is not just art, it is a feat of preserving national memory and Orthodox faith. In every movement of his, in every chord of the choir — there is love for ancestors, for the Motherland, for God.

On the other side of the stage — the Sydney Concert Orchestra conducted by Omid Moheb-Zadeh. This young maestro managed to infuse the concert with orchestral breath, giving the music drama and harmony, light and grandeur.

The merging of these two collectives became a true miracle. It was not just a concert. It was a cultural prayer, a meeting of East and West, Russia and Australia, past and present. Here, music spoke the language of the soul, understandable to everyone, regardless of nationality and origin.

“Bravo!” — echoed throughout the hall. “Bravo!” — to mastery, inspiration, for great art.

This evening will become a precious pearl in the cultural treasure trove of Australia and Russia, reminding us that true art is eternal and lives where the heart beats.

Lyudmila Larkina
Editor of the magazine Australian Lampada.