2005 Press Releases
American Voices Sing in the Urals
June 2, 2005
This week the U.S. Consulate General and the "American Voices" Fund treated Urals music lovers to a new set of extraordinary American musical experiences. On May 30 in Chelyabinsk and on June 1 in Yekaterinburg, "American Voices" performers Ira Spaulding (baritone and choral conductor) and John Ferguson (Piano) and the choir of the Sverdlovsk State Musical Comedy Theater presented American music of the 1940s - American Negro spirituals, musical pieces by Kirby Shaw and Duke Ellington, as well as world-reknowned and loved arias from George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess”.
Ferguson and Spaulding played to full concert halls in both cities, and received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.. The soloists and choir charmed the sophisticated audience with their vivid and engaging theatrical style. And for John Ferguson, who is also the Art Director of “American Voices” , and for Ira Spaulding, these two performances in the Urals made a wonderful closing to their 3-week long tour of CIS countries that included Turkmenistan, Moldova, and Kazakhstan.
