Performers: PaTRAM Institute Male Choir

Solo: Mikhail Davydov bass-baritone

Conductor: Vladimir Gorbik

Running Time: 71:25

Language: Church Slavonic

Description:  PaTRAM Institute presents their newest musical offering, which honors the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who gave birth to God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The unique program of More Honourable than the Cherubim is selected from a vast array of hymns, which have inspired composers and comforted the hearts of the faithful in times of both celebration and tribulation. The Grammy award nominated PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, comprised of 56 vocalists, hailing from five countries, with an unprecedented nine octavists, coalesced in an inspired collaboration of orthodox faith and sacred music for worship. The choir achieved a sound so deeply beautiful and moving, that local residents huddled outside the recording venue and on balconies of adjacent buildings in hopes of hearing the heavenly and exquisite music coming from inside the church. The choir drew divine inspiration from the Kursk Root Mother of God of the Sign Icon, which was granted special permission to travel with the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir to Saratov, Russia. During their time in this remote city, more than 18,000 believers and those new to the faith venerated the holy and magnificent relic. The rich and live acoustic of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Saratov, Russia served as the ideal venue for the recording.