Christmas Concert “Voice and Harp”

On 8th January 2018 at 7 pm a unique Christmas concert will take place at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints in London: a coloratura soprano and harp will be heard together.

Such a combination is quite a rare phenomenon, as few soloists are able to adjust themselves to the soft and gentle sound of the harp. This infrequent gift will be presented by the soprano Maria Veretenina and the harpist Nina Mishchenko, who will perform sacred music. The programme will include works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Handel and Bach, together with Russian Orthodox church music.

Maria has sung sacred music on several occasions in London, notably for Patriarch Kirill during his visit in October 2016 to mark the tercentenary of the founding of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain. She also performed before Prince Charles, when he visited the Cathedral of the Sourozh Eparchy of the Moscow Patriarch in London in December 2016.

Maria has sung in a church choir since she was a child. She says, “It’s a great joy for me to give a sacred concert for all who wish to hear it.” Her debut took place on the stage of the Finnish National Opera, when she performed in “Boris Godunov” with the famous Finnish bass Matti Salminen. She has sung in the world’s best concert halls, including the Grand Hall of the St.Petersburg Philharmonic and the Royal College of Music in London, where she was awarded the Grand Prix of the London Festival in 2014.

This time Maria Veretenina will perform with Nina Mishchenko, who graduated from the class of harp at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in 2013.

Nina performed in orchestras and ensembles at “The Kremlin Palace Concert Hall”, “The Moscow International House of Music”, “The Moscow Crocus City Hall” and others. She is a member of “The Russian Harp Society”.

The concert of sacred music given by Maria Veretenina and Nina Mishchenko promises to be a significant event in the cultural life of London.