KHORISTORIA is the lively, music-filled story of the Yale Russian Chorus and its founder Denis Mickiewicz, told against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. The film follows Mickiewicz as he whips nearly 200 returning singers from five decades, most of whom he has never met, into a cohesive unit for their 50th anniversary concert. Behind-the-scenes footage of the intensive preparations for a major performance is interspersed with stories and footage from the Chorus’ early years, when members engaged in some of the first private-initiative, person-to-person cultural exchanges of the Cold War. Along the way, the audience is introduced to the Chorus’ soul-stirring style and songs, the inspired leader who brought them to America, and the men of Yale who drew sellout audiences across the United States and Europe and brought the music back to the street corners of Russia. By showing the power of music to transcend time, space, politics, and connecting people who do not seem to have much in common, KHORISTORIA offers a timeless message of tolerance, cross-cultural understanding, and hope.
About the Film
Catherine Mattingly is a lawyer turned business executive turned filmmaker. A native of Kentucky, she graduated from Centre College and from the Brandeis Law School at the University of Louisville. She is now based in the Washington, DC area.
Denis Mickiewicz co-founded the Yale Russian Chorus in 1953 and continues to conduct the Alumni when they gather for concerts. He is professor emeritus at Duke University, and his specialities include Russian poetry, modernism, comparative poetics, and music. He arranged or transcribed much of the Yale Russian Chorus repertoire and is author of Toward a Definition of Acmeism; Russian Vocal Music; Semantic Functions in Zaum; and Petersburgian Poetics of Viacheslav Ivanov: Apollini (forthcoming). In 2003 he was recognized by the Yale School of Music for extraordinary service to Yale and the international music community. In 2004 the Ambassador of Russia Yuri Ushakov, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin and the Mayor of St. Petersburg. presented him a medal "In Commemoration of St. Petersburg's 300th Anniversary" for his contribution in the field of American-Russian cultural relations.
Directed, Produced & Edited by Catherine Mattingly
Special Thanks to Bob Shackleton, Harald & Jenny Hille, George Litton, Joe Gray
Cinematography by Catherine Mattingly
Concert Footage by Bob Loftur-Thun, Chandi Kelly, Taylor Jenkins, Catherine Mattingly
Sound Re-Mix by Kevin Hill, Studio Unknown, Baltimore, MD
Legal Counsel by Debra Mayer, Shatzkin & Mayer, P.C., New York, NY
Music Copyright Clearance by Elias Savada, Motion Picture Information Services, Bethesda, MD
Consulting from Bob Shackleton, Harald Hille, Denis Mickiewicz, Greg Burnside, Adele Schmidt, Erica Ginsberg, Joe Gray, Gabrielle Mattingly Gray
Archival Film Footage from Ed Dew, Yale University (Manuscripts & Archives, Media Services), National Archives & Records Administration, Archive.org, Buyout Footage
Archival Photographs & Artifacts from Yale Russian Chorus Alumni Association, Denis Mickiewicz, Harald & Jenny Hille, Wikimedia Commons, Greg Burnside, George Huber, Geoff Kabaservice, Mark Zuver, Library of Congress
Interviews & Assistance
Mark Bailey
Robert Blocker
Nick Danforth
Drew Days
Donald Filer
David-Marc Finley
John Francis
Bob Freling
Dan Godfrey
Andy Gordon
Gary Gregorika
Dan Gsovski
Harald Hille
Brock Holmes
Rolly Johnson
Geoff Kabaservice
Alex Kuzma
Bruce Lieberman
Eric Lipsitt
Steve Lipsitt
George Litton
Tatjana Lorkovic
Irina Magidrina
Roberto Meinrath
Denis Mickiewicz
Charles Neff
Hugh Olmsted
Newton Osborne
Richard Osborne
Jamie Pedersen
Harlow Robinson
Jonathan Russin
Alex Schenker
John Schilke
Bob Shackleton
James (Jimmy) Sloan
John Shattuck
Ray Williams
Supporters
John Andrews
Pete Andrews
Bud Baker
Greg Burnside
Andrew Calman
Joseph DeRaismes
Andy Gordon
Tom Gregory
Harald & Jenny Hille
George Huber
Ray Kinoshita
Gunnar Knapp
Paul Kujawsky
Bruce & Marsha Lieberman
Denis & Ellen Mickiewicz
Lawrence & Mary Newman
Susan Punett & Joe Cartwright
Jonathan Russin
Ed Shapiro
Jimmy Sloan
Music From Movie
Used by Generous Permission of the Yale Russian Chorus Alumni Association
Lezginka (Lezgi Battle Song), Traditional Caucasian, Arranged by Konstantin Nikolaievich Shvedov, Transcribed by Bruce Lieberman
From 50th Anniversary Gala Concer, Recorded Live October 25, 2003, Woolsey Hall, Yale University, Recording Engineer: Eugene Kimbal, Edited and Mastered: Roy Cherryhomes, SoundBoard Post Production, Dallas, Texa
Tebe Boga khvalim (We Praise Thee, O Lord), Dimitry Bortnyansky (1751-1825), Transcribed and Abbreviated by Denis Mickiewicz, Live in Rehearsal
Vyotsa, vyotsa sizyi dym (Grey Smoke Is Rising), Traditional Russian Cossack, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Kas Tie Tadi (Who Are They), Traditional Latvian, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Svete tikhi (O Light Serene), 6th Century Greek Orthodox Hymn, Alexander Kastalsky (1856-1926), Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz,
From Alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus Live in Concert 2005, Recorded Live October 1, 2005, Duke Chapel, Duke University, Recording Engineer: Robert L. Musser, Edited and Mastered: VoChor of Durham, NC
Moonbeams, Freeplay Music Inc.
Kalinka (Sweet Little Snowball Tree), Traditional Russian, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, Live in Rehearsal
Vyotsa, vyotsa sizyi dym (Grey Smoke Is Rising), Live in Rehearsal
Poiduli vydul’ ya (I Shall Go Down Into the Valley), Traditional Russian, Arranged by Alexander Grechaninov (1864-1956), Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
I Don’t Know Why (I Love You Like I Do), Performed by Yale Glee Club, From Media Services Video
Za Dunayem (Across the Danube), Traditional Soldier Song, Yuri Alexandrovich Shaporin, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Blazhen muzh (Blessed Is the Man), Kievo-Perchersky Chant (13th-18th centuries), 1st and 2nd Psalms, Alexander Fateev, erformed by Don Cossacks; Then Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, Performed Live in Rehearsal
Ride the Chariot, Traditional Afro-American Spiritual, Arranged by William Henry Smith, From Back in the USSR Documentary by Ed Dew
Soldatushki (Brave Little Soldiers), Traditional Russian Soldier Song, Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Steal Away, Traditional Afro-American Spiritual, Arranged by Marshall Bartholomew, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Battle of Borodino, Mikhail Yurevich Lermontov (1814-1841), Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, From 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Akh ty steppe (Oh, Thou Steppe), 17th century Russian Traditional, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz
Glasom moim (With My Voice), 142nd Psalm, Alexander Arkhangelsky (1846-1924), Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, From Live in Concert 2005
Soviet National Anthem, Lyrics by Sergei Mikhalkov (born 1913), Music by Alexander Alexandrov (1883-1946)
United States National Anthem, Lyrics by Francis Scott Key, Music by John Stafford Smith, Performed by US Marine Corps Band
Khvalitye imya Gospodne (Praise the Name of the Lord), 135th and 136th Psalms, Alexander Arkhangelsky (1846-1924), Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz, From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Ekh, Dorogi (O, Bleak Roads), Lyrics Lev Oshanin, Music Anatoly Novikov, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Vechnaya pamiat' (Eternal Memory), Traditional setting of hymn sung after Dismissal in the Orthodox Requiem, From Live in Concert 2005
Oi na hori (On the Hill), Traditional Ukrainian Cossack, Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz, From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Soldatushki (Brave Little Soldiers), From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Po moryam, po volnam (Across the Sea, Over the Waves), Traditional Russian Sailor’s Song, Arranged by Serge Jaroff, Transcribed by Greg Burnside, Performed Live by the 2003 student Yale Russian Chorus
Kviria (Kviria, Son of the Heavens), Traditional Georgian (in Svan), From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Lezginka (Lezgi Battle Song), Live in Rehearsal Then From the 50th Anniversary Gala Concert
Tebe Boga khvalim (We Praise Thee, O Lord)
Akh ty steppe (Oh, Thou Steppe)
Metelitsa (The Snowstorm), Aleksandr Egorovich Varlamov (1801-1848), Arranged by Denis Mickiewicz
Battle of Borodino
Poiduli vydul’ ya (I Shall Go Down Into the Valley)
Zhilo dvenadsat razboinikov (The Legend of the Twelve Brigands), Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov (1821-1878), Traditional Russian melody, Transcribed by Denis Mickiewicz
Kalinka (Sweet Little Snowball Tree)
A Documentary by Catherine Mattingly