The Virtual Village Ensemble / Russia/Ukraine/France
Festival Scene In Crudo – it is also a space for the Virtual Village Ensemble (Виртуальная Деревня) from Moscow, Kiev and Paris, which practices and reconstructs, among other things, archaic traditional songs of the Dnieper and Volga river basins. The artists have also collaborated with Sergei Starostin and the Ukrainian group Derev.
The band has a remarkable history. Once upon a time, its members, then students of the Moscow Conservatory, went to the countryside to record songs performed by folk singers as part of their practice and became fascinated by authentic folklore. They tried to perform the works recorded at the time, performing in a conservatory ensemble, and after graduation they went to various countries and did not see each other for many years. They met again on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ensemble’s founding and decided to resume their artistic activity using the benefits of modern technologies.
The group practices in a “virtual space” and physically meets once in a while during several working sessions during the year, when they fine-tune the artistic solutions they have come up with and translate them into musical reality. The Virtual Village Ensemble has performed at many festivals and toured the cities of Ukraine, Russia and France.
The music offered by the members of the group evokes authentic, traditional sounds. The extraordinary repertoire, mastery of rare musical instruments, traditional costumes, conceptual use of stage space – all this distinguishes Virtual Village from many other groups. Meetings with former masters, the last representatives of the rural tradition, are for them not only an insight into the secrets of craftsmanship, but also a source of constant inspiration.
Olga Gnievsheva (Russia) – vocals
Svetlana Kontzedalova (Russia) – vocals
Olga Lapshina (Russia) – vocals
Olga Velichkina (Russia/France) – vocals
Nadezhda Zulanova (Russia) – vocals
Svetlana Kontsedalova (Ukraine) – vocals
The concert took place in 2019.