The Valaam Monastery Choir is a unique creative ensemble which was established in the 1990s. The choir accompanies patriarchal divine services on Valaam, as well as receptions on the island for the President and members of the Russian Government and other high-ranking guests of the monastery. The collective is actively involved in concert and educational activities.
The choir has in its repertoire many programmes, in which both ecclesiastic and secular works are heard. At the same time there is not a single piece that has not been specially adapted for the ensemble, given the vast range of voices: from countertenor to bass-profundo.
The choir consists of professional musicians from St. Petersburg, graduates of the Choral School of the Glinka State Academic Capella and the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatoire, certified conductors and vocalists, leading singers of vocal and choral ensembles and musical theatres in St. Petersburg.
Aleksandr Bordak has been the artistic director of the secular-church Choir of the Valaam Monastery since 1993. He is the author of numerous arrangements of choral works, a frequent presenter of the programmes and a reciter.