music as compassionate action
Why We Sing
by Paul Andrews
Slavianka, San Francisco’s Russian choir, was founded 40 years ago, has visited Russia numerous times, and released a dozen albums of Russian and Eastern European choral music. Chorus members come from both Ukrainian and Russian families, which, with the war in Ukraine, made the past year a struggle. Members responded with ‘deep’ conversations. Together they explored the following affirmation, written by Slavianka’s co-founder and president, Paul Andrews.
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Art and culture are the treasure houses of our deepest dreams - not the fleeting dreams of power and empire, which can never satisfy what is best in us, but our deep soul-dreams, from which generation after generation has drawn healing, strength and new determination to change our societies and our world for the better.
For more than forty years, our Slavyanka Choir here in San Francisco has performed music from the varied choral traditions of Russia and Eastern Europe, to help Americans better understand and appreciate the cultural history behind these traditions. We’re proud to have contributed in a small way to international and intercultural understanding between East and West through the special language of choral music.
Once again, a wall is growing between Russian and America. Like other Americans, we are horrified by the war in Ukraine, call urgently for its end, and have raised money to offer help for its victims. But just saying what we're against isn't enough. What are we called to do now?
When our governments are at odds, ordinary people like us have an even greater responsibility to keep alive the threads of human connection between the people of our different countries. History shows us all too clearly what happens when people begin to treat the “other” as no longer worthy of empathy or respect, and what darkness people are capable of once that line is crossed.
We are a small musical organization. But size is not the important thing. What matters is that we act in our musical efforts with the same degree of compassion, creativity, courage and commitment that we ask and expect of our leaders.
The music we sing gives us a clear and important way to do so.
More than most Americans, we’ve been privileged to catch a glimpse of Russian soul-dreams – dreams that through the poetry and music of Russia’s great artists bring the unreachable within reach for all of us. For a moment we are again in the presence of the truly universal truths of human life – beauty, nature, suffering, loss, grief, divine love, joy, human love – the deep realities that we share as human beings – and the true source of our hope and renewed determination to create a brighter future for our countries.
Prayer for Peace concert put together in response to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis
We don't sing this music because it's Russian. We sing it because in singing, we bring our audiences with us once again into the presence of those primal mysteries. In their uniquely Russian expression, we remember that even in these agonizing times, we are (and are called to be) brothers and sisters with people halfway around the world in a common human family.
That’s our mission as an organization, the dream we share - and why we continue to sing.
