For David Cochrane'14, participation in the Dickinson-in-Moscow program is not only about studying the Russian language: it is about living Russian culture by immersing himself in the realities of everyday life. For David, this happens through music. Nearly every night he is rehearses and sings with three prestigious choirs: The Great Academic Choir of RSUH, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Choir, and the cathedral’s small early music chamber ensemble where he also co-directs and conducts.

''The week on Thanksgiving night I sang a concert with the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception choir," David said. "It was an honor to sing in this beautiful Cathedral, which in my opinion has some of the best acoustics in the world. It is by far the most amazing space that I have ever sung in. The director, Sister Valentina, is an amazing women and musician, and it was a pleasure to ask to be a soloist on her concert and to continue to sing with her every week at mass and in future concerts. As the Advent season has quickly rolled in we have been learning very challenging music very fast, which pushes me out of my comfort zone and is making me a better musician every night!”

Last week in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, David took part in the final grand-concert of the Musical Festival series. He preformed with the Great Academic Choir of RSUH, where he sang the choir part of the opera “Cavalleria Rusticana.”

“It was a blessing to get to sing this opera with these musicians,” David said, “To be able to say I sang with Vladislav Piavko, who is a very famous in Russia and for many years was a lead performer in the Bolshoi Theater, is amazing. I learned so much from this even from just watching every little aspect of how Sergey Kondrashev, the conductor of the Moscow City Philharmonic, ran rehearsals.”

On December 6, Russian students of all levels performed in the annual Russian Department Talent Show. They recited poetry, sang songs from classic films, and wrote and performed skits. Two students currently studying abroad on the Dickinson-in-Moscow program emailed a video of an original song that they had written and performed about life in Moscow in winter. Russian 101 student Barrett Ziegler ‘16 (Russian 101) wrote an original poem, “Love,” which he then translated into Russian and read at the event. Advanced Russian students Abby Preston ‘16 and Sasha Shapiro ‘15 performed a skit that incorporated well-known Russian anecdotes about life in the Soviet Union. Among the Russian Department’s many talented musicians are Caroline Elkin ‘15, Sam Drabkin ‘16, and Caitlin Moriarty ‘13, who performed pieces by Petr Tchaikovsky and others on the oboe, the cello, and the violin, respectively. 

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