The Monastic Choir of St Elisabeth Convent, winner of international contests, supports social ministries by touring England with charitable concerts.
The Monastic Choir of St Elisabeth Convent is known for performing charitable concert tours in England, singing at parishes in places such as London, Oxford, Colchester, Peterborough, and Oxford.
Their concerts include Orthodox worship chants, as well as traditional spiritual songs. Audiences have the opportunity to hear ancient Znamenny, Valaam, Byzantine and Greek chants, as well as some Old-Bulgarian, Macedonian and Georgian canticles.
Presently the Monastic Choir is lead by nun Juliania (Denisova), graduate of St Petersburg Music Academy, author of more than 150 liturgical chants, musical arrangements and harmonizations.
The founder of the Monastic Choir is nun Martha (Guskova). It is due to her efforts that ordinary singing was gradually replaced with old canonical chants which are now used throughout the yearly cycle of worship. Znamenny chant, mostly used during ordinary time is combined with Byzantine, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Georgian chants to create a unique festive and prayerful atmosphere on Sundays and holidays.
The sisters are known and loved in many European countries. Based in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, it is one of the most renowned choirs on post-USSR territory which performs spiritual music.
Most of the choir members are professional musicians, but apart from singing each of them has an important obedience in the Convent. Sisters work in the workshops, edit books, help with the organization of charitable projects. Obediences are different, but the thing that unites everyone is the love of singing.
