Vladimir Nikolaevich Minin |

Vladimir Minin

Vladimir Minin is a People’s Artist of the USSR, a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, holder of the Orders of Merit for the Fatherland, III and IV degrees, the Order of Honor, winner of the independent Triumph Prize, professor, creator and permanent artistic director of the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir.

Vladimir Minin was born on January 10, 1929 in Leningrad. After graduating from the choral school in his native city, he entered the Moscow Conservatory, completed his postgraduate studies in the class of Professor A.V. Sveshnikov, at whose invitation he became the choirmaster of the State Academic Russian Choir of the USSR in his student years.

Vladimir Nikolayevich headed the State Honored Chapel of Moldova “Doina”, the Leningrad Academic Russian Choir named after. Glinka, worked as the head of the department of the Novosibirsk State Conservatory.

In 1972, on the initiative of Minin, who at that time worked as the rector of the State Musical Pedagogical Institute named after. Gnesins, a chamber choir was created from students and teachers of the university, which a year later was transformed into a professional team and became world-famous as the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir.

“Creating the Moscow Chamber Choir,” recalls V. Minin, “I tried to resist the concept that had developed in the Soviet mind about the choir as a mass of dullness, mediocrity, to prove that the choir is the highest art, and not mass singing. Indeed, by and large, the task of choral art is the spiritual perfection of the individual, an emotional and sincere conversation with the listener. And the function of this genre… is the listener’s catharsis. Works should make a person think about why and how he lives.

Outstanding contemporary composers dedicated their works to Maestro Minin: Georgy Sviridov (cantata “Night Clouds”), Valery Gavrilin (choral symphony-act “Chimes”), Rodion Shchedrin (choral liturgy “The Sealed Angel”), Vladimir Dashkevich (liturgy “Seven lightning bolts of the Apocalypse”) ”), and Gia Kancheli entrusted the Maestro with the premiere in Russia of four of his compositions.

In September 2010, as a gift to the world-famous rock singer Sting, Maestro Minin recorded the song “Fragile” with the choir.

For the anniversary of Vladimir Nikolaevich, the channel “Culture” shot the film “Vladimir Minin. From the first person.” The book by V.N. Minin “Solo for the Conductor” with DVD “Vladimir Minin. Created a Miracle”, which contains unique recordings from the life of the choir and the Maestro.

“Creating the Moscow Chamber Choir,” recalls V. Minin, “I tried to resist the concept that had developed in the Soviet mind about the choir as a mass of dullness, mediocrity, to prove that the choir is the highest art, and not mass singing. Indeed, by and large, the task of choral art is the spiritual perfection of the individual, an emotional and sincere conversation with the listener. And the function of this genre, namely the genre, is the catharsis of the listener. Works should make a person think about why and how he lives. What are you doing on this earth – good or evil, think about it … And this function does not depend on time, or on social formation, or on presidents. The most important purpose of the choir is to speak about national, philosophical and state problems.

Vladimir Minin regularly tours abroad with the Choir. Particularly significant was the participation of the choir for 10 years (1996-2006) in the Opera Festival in Bregenz (Austria), tour performances in Italy, as well as concerts in Japan and Singapore in May-June 2009 and concerts in Vilnius (Lithuania). ) as part of the XI International Festival of Russian Sacred Music.

The permanent creative partners of the choir are the best symphony orchestras of Russia: the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra. P.I. Tchaikovsky under the direction of V. Fedoseev, Russian National Orchestra under the direction of M. Pletnev, State Academic Symphony Orchestra. E. Svetlanov under the direction of M. Gorenshtein; chamber orchestras “Moscow Virtuosi” under the direction of V. Spivakov, “Soloists of Moscow” under the direction of Yu. Bashmet, etc.

In 2009, in honor of the 80th anniversary of the birth and the 60th anniversary of the creative activity of V.N. Minin was awarded the Order of Honor; TV channel “Culture” shot the film “Vladimir Minin. From the first person.

On December 9 of the same year, the winners of the independent Triumph Prize in the field of literature and art for 2009 were announced in Moscow. One of them was the head of the Moscow State Academic Chamber Choir Vladimir Minin.

After the triumphant performance of the Russian Anthem at the Olympics in Vancouver, Maestro Minin was invited to join the Expert Council for the artistic implementation of cultural programs and ceremonies of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website