Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble and Paul Winter Consort

The Russian Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble will be the special guests at Paul Winter's 24th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration in New York City's Cathedral of St John the Divine, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, in December 2003.

Founded in 1973 in Moscow by Dmitri Pokrovsky (1944-1996), the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble performs a wide variety of music, including songs of different traditions and styles of the Russian countryside, spiritual music, and works by classical composers such as Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Shchedrin and Shnitke.

Paul Winter and his Consort met the Pokrovsky Ensemble when the two groups were billed together in a concert at Moscow University in 1986, at the end of the Consort's first tour of the Soviet Union. The magic of that first concert planted the seeds for the 2 groups to come together again in 1987 to create the Grammy-nominated album EARTHBEAT (Living Music) and in 1988 for a 25-city tour of the United States.

A milestone recording, EARTHBEAT was described by Pete Seeger as a "ground-breaking album" in which Winter may have "set a new path - of juxtaposing and superimposing different idioms". Dave Brubeck said of the EARTHBEAT album: "Paul's fusion of this 1,000-year old Russian ethnic choral tradition with the personal style of his group is a forceful statement of his belief in the oneness of our earth song".

After many performances together in the USA, Russia and Asia, the Paul Winter Consort and the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble continue to break new ground. In 2003 they have delighted audiences in Russia, Spain and Israel. In December 2003 they will come together once more at Paul Winter's celebrated annual Winter Solstice Celebration, a world music, theatrical and environmental concert which has become one of the best-attended holiday events in New York City.

About the Paul Winter and the Consort: http://www.paulwinter.com/
About the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble: http://www.livingmusic.com/biographies/DmitriPokrovskyEnsemble.html
About Paul Winter's Solstice Celebrations: http://www.livingmusic.com/solstice/

For more information, contact Vivienne or Chez, info@livingmusic.com

• article submitted by: Vivienne Liley, Earth Music/Paul Winter Consort