Con Anima Vocal Group – St. Petersburg, Russia

Con Anima is a small ensemble of operatic vocalists from St. Petersburg, Russia. Small in number, but by no means small in sound or passion. They performed recently at my church, Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church. I could not find reviews of them online so I wanted to let you know what they are like as you consider going to one of their concerts or having them perform at your church. (Short read: They are fantastic!)

I knew that they were from St. Petersburg, that they had all graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and that they were Russian Orthodox. My guess was that this was going to be very heavy, intense music – very dark and compelling to Western US ears. And it was exactly that. Con Anima has a sound that takes you on a ride through the centuries, a timeless sound.

Visit their website at Con-Anima.spb.ru and you listen to a Con Anima Vocal Sample. Their sound is even more compelling when heard live. This is a group that I don’t think any recording will ever do it justice – It’s a visual and auditory combination that will lift your mind to new heights and inspire the depths of your sould.

For our performance we only used a mic for song introductions – no sound reinforcement is really needed for this group if you have a good acoustic environment. The bass vocalist alone has more vocal power than most entire church choirs. They are accustomed to filling opera stages with sound and when you get five of them toghther, well, It’s Big!

They gave a one hour concert with a combination of Russian sacred favorites, and also a mix of Russian “gospel” and classical music. The first half was a capella and the second half a refreshing mix of piano accompaniament, solos and duets.

Con Anima does well at presenting a faith-based concert that would be equally comfortable for any denomination to experience. The power of their delivery speaks for itself with obvious dedication to the spiritual drive behind their music.

If you like early music, chamber music, Russian music or music with conviction – you will love Con Anima. In all honesty, unless you were born under a rock you will absolutely love Con Anima.