Many Yaroslavl journalists came to see the new director of the Yaroslavl Regional Philharmonic, Leonid Fradkin, who came to us from Moscow.

LEONID Mikhailovich Fradkin is a blue-eyed Muscovite with a charming smile. Leonid Mikhailovich graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, double bassist, but recently he has been involved in music management and was deputy general director of the international House of Music. He organized concerts of Placido Domingo on Red Square, Montserrat Caballe in Gostiny Dvor... Yaroslavl, of course, is not on the same scale, but Leonid Mikhailovich thinks on a European scale and, apparently, believes that Yaroslavl may well become one of the musical capitals of Russia. In the near future, the famous conductor Gergiev of the Lithuanian opera will come to us. The TV channel “Culture” will record a program for children in Yaroslavl, the basis of which will be the symphonic fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf” performed by our orchestra. The Philaramony is not social security, Leonid Mikhailovich emphasized. The Philharmonic must become a powerful production company. The viewer is not interested in the mechanism of inviting famous musicians and actors, but their presence is important. Even maestro Murad Annamamedov, with extensive musical connections, was amazed by Leonid Fradkin’s diverse creative contacts. He names names of musicians and actors whose arrival in Yaroslavl we had never dreamed of before. Moreover, ticket prices, as we were promised, would be quite acceptable for the creative intelligentsia and other low-income groups. The new director of the Philharmonic is currently living, as he put it, in a hotel-type hostel. On Friday evening he leaves for Moscow, and on Monday morning he arrives in Yaroslavl. And he’s the very first one to come to work. For now, Leonid Mikhailovich is not going to move to Yaroslavl for permanent residence. Maybe when the grandchildren and wife Marina Markovna are born, she is a pediatrician by profession, she will leave her job, then... The director’s wife was born in Yaroslavl, but lived here for only one month. Of course, many were interested in whether Leonid Fradkin was a relative of Mark Fradkin. It turns out, no, Leonid Mikhailovich joked that he would prefer to be a relative of Fradkov. In general, the new director shone with a sense of humor, when his cell phone rang, he apologized and said that he had called Placido Domingo. So far, the contract with the new director has been concluded for a year. Whether the metropolitan manager will take root in our provincial musical soil, time will tell. Usually the reverse process, outflow, was observed. Yaroslavl was the launching pad for many conductors and directors, and then they invariably left for the capitals.

– You, Leonid Mikhailovich, do not throw words to the wind in your repertoire. They promised Plisetskaya and Shchedrin - they came. Gergiev, Bashmet with orchestras - please. Our readers know that your intentions to connect to charitable, and especially children's, programs are not an empty phrase. Twice already, at the Yaroslavl concerts of the Russian-American Youth Orchestra, disabled children received computers.

“Our project “Debut” with the new director of the Philharmonic Irina Trofileva also has some connection with this orchestra. About seven years ago, RAMO was looking for a performer for Karol Szymanowski’s violin concerto. We called Novosibirsk, whose violin school trained Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin. An essay of the highest complexity, and only a month of time left. “There is such a boy,” answered Professor Arnold Katz. It was thirteen-year-old Misha Simonyan.

– Did you live up to your hopes?

- And how. The world tour with RAMO began the glory of this amazing virtuoso. Mikhail's debuts have been compared to the dazzling early career of the child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin. Simonyan studied in Philadelphia and won several international competitions in a row. And then, on the friendly advice of Valery Gergiev and under his influence, he returned to his homeland.

– So we’re talking about “Debut”...

– At the opening of the project on October 17, Mikhail will appear before Yaroslavl residents in three roles at once: a performer (solo and in a duet with Muscovite Tatyana Porshneva), conductor of the Yaroslavl Chamber Orchestra, formed on the basis of the YAGSO string group, and artistic director of the entire “Debut” project.

– What is the idea of ​​the project?

– Release a product that is competitive everywhere. Well, so that domestic stars, regardless of age, can imagine how Russia lives outside the capital’s Garden Ring and St. Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect. And listeners, and especially young ones, could be convinced that Bach, Mozart or Tchaikovsky in a concert hall sound completely different and much more interesting than on their mobile phones. One day we were driving through the city and saw a sign on the fence “Do not litter”, and under it a hefty pile of things that were supposed to be thrown into trash cans. I suggested: we should unite at least to help clear things up, and first of all, naturally, in the souls of people. Mikhail and another participant in the project, a young conductor from Moscow, Renat Bektashev, happily nodded their heads.

– As you can see, the new project will also be your debut as artistic director of the Philharmonic. How did you suddenly, without any fuss, suddenly move from the spacious director’s office to a much more modest one?

- But it’s not “suddenly” at all. Not because I stopped liking it for no reason. I don’t feel like a business executive who would be able to remotely control (my family lives in Moscow) two halls – Sobinovsky and “Gigan-Tom” – with big construction problems.

– Were you planning to say goodbye to Yaroslavl?

- Yes, and in a kind way. I came to the department with this. And I heard a question from director Yuri Ivanov that sounded more like a business proposal: what role do I see myself in that would make me want to stay at the Philharmonic?

- And what did you answer?

– That the position of artistic director would suit me quite well. Because I consider myself a creative leader to a much greater extent than an economic leader. Based on this, at the right time we shared responsibility with the new director invited by the department.

– What, for example, did you agree on?

– Among other things, we agreed to discuss my projects together, as was the case with Debut. I am convinced that a modern philharmonic society should be a kind of production company that knows what people will come to see and how funding for these projects will be found. All my efforts will continue to be aimed at inviting world-famous stars to Yaroslavl and to the capital and foreign tours of the governor’s orchestra. The orchestra itself needs all this to create a normal competitive environment.

– Does this worry you?

- And seriously.

– You never spoke about this openly.

– I didn’t say it, because as a director I thought it was unethical.

- And now?

– Murad Atayevich and I are two creative directors, we are equal, and I’ll say frankly: it’s not normal for an artist to sit in a smoky office all day, when he and other orchestras perform occasionally, and the names of guest performers in his orchestra’s concerts, as a rule, are little is said about true art connoisseurs.

– But how can the chief conductor not want to invite the stars?

- Darker the night - brighter than the stars. We need new conductors and performers. Moreover, there is no financial problem.

– Were there any obstacles?

– There were no obstacles as such. But the entire season of YAGSO is completely filled with events, to put it mildly, inexpressive. Give an example?

- It is good to.

– Neither as a musician, nor as a listener, I am not satisfied with something called “From the Odessa Kichman” in the poster of a serious orchestra - there was such a concert recently, if you remember, in the Sobinovsky Hall. There is a colossal difference between the Philharmonic and Radio Chanson. To put a line from a criminal song into the title of a symphony orchestra program is at least indecent.

– Maybe the whole problem is that, as always, “finance sings romances”?

– I am ready to invite truly gifted people with world renown to YAGSO programs. Moreover, payment for their labor is my concern as a contract manager, not the orchestra. But when – if we are talking about money – in an interview with your newspaper on September 29, Murad Atayevich laments: at the last Sobinov festival “they paid for the participation of everyone except the governor’s orchestra,” then such words are not just incorrect. The maestro is not the owner of his own enterprise, and his dissatisfaction, honestly, looks funny.

– The maestro believes that his orchestra is ordered to conduct all its affairs “autonomously.”

“Now I’m not as concerned about all this as I was before when I was a director.” But I will still say: according to the regulations of the orchestra, its interests are represented by the director of the philharmonic society. Except in cases where he decides to entrust such powers to the chief conductor. When I was director, I did not give such instructions to Murad Atayevich. And further. I am a direct opponent of broadcast ambitions and inspired demagoguery.

- What do you have in mind?

– For example, these are the words of the chief conductor in the same September interview: I, says your interlocutor, “with pleasure blessed Irina Trofileva to reign.” And I don’t like it if in this context someone is called a musician “by the will of God.”

– Don’t you like this expression at all?

– When you write like that about Gergiev or Rozhdestvensky, my taste can stand it. Which of us is “by the will of God” is known by comparison. This is why we need that same competitive environment. No contract provides for the functions of the Lord God for an artist.

– If I ask you the question from the title of our last year’s publication about philharmonic passion-faces, “Will former classmates smoke a peace pipe?”, what would you answer?

– I’ll answer what I’ve always said: I’m open to constructive dialogue. And, perhaps, in the tone of the question, I will voice such a project of reconciliation. Both should be fired voluntarily. Then invite us to publicly present our programs for the development of the concert business. Compare them...

– Who will compare?

– Colleagues from the Philharmonic will do this best. Let them choose the winner by secret ballot.

- Thanks for the great joke. But maybe, Leonid Mikhailovich, the music itself will judge?

- What are you offering?

– To remember something from the events of the past season. After all, nothing prevented Annamamedov’s orchestra from shining in the contracts you signed: the stellar program of Gergiev’s Moscow Easter Festival, in Yaroslavl and Moscow concerts with the clown Melvin Tix, in the play “Don Pasquale” at the Helikon Opera Theater at the Sobinovsky Festival. For the first time in all its sixty years, the orchestra traveled not just abroad, but to the homeland of Bach and Beethoven, Germany. Whatever one may say, the strongest arguments for what exactly listeners expect from the Philharmonic are provided by her, Her Majesty the music.

– Here I completely agree with you. You can't argue with her.

This ensemble is very famous in Russia. It is the calling card of Russia abroad. It is young with its artists, but its history goes back 80 years. The name of this group is the Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Lokteva. The artistic director of the ensemble, Leonid Fradkin, spoke about the life of the creative team “MP”.

— Leonid Mikhailovich, Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Lokteva is one of the most famous and oldest children's groups in Russia. At its origins was the head of the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble, Alexander Alexandrov. This is obligatory.

- You are absolutely right. The initiator of the creation of the Ensemble was Alexander Alexandrovich. And this is a great honor for us. We consider ourselves the younger brothers of the famous ensemble named after him. Although, I would say that the Loktev Ensemble is the child of several fathers at once. We must also remember the outstanding conductor, a great expert in children's choral music, professor at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the Soviet Union Vladislav Gennadievich Sokolov, who made a huge contribution to the development of choral art. Today a wonderful children's choir in Rybinsk is named after him. This ensemble is now called “ Rybinsk falcons" Now it is headed by our great friend, a talented choral conductor and, dare I say it, an ascetic - Sergei Shesteryakov.

And with the arrival of Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev, whose name the ensemble now bears, joined the Ensemble, we created both an orchestra and a choreographic group, headed by the famous and outstanding teacher Elena Romanovna Rosse - an absolute legend in this direction. Vladimir Sergeevich invited the famous music teacher Alexei Sergeevich Ilyin, who led this group for many, many years and brought it to incredible heights. It was with him that the team traveled not only the whole country, but the whole world. And I believe that the years of leadership of Alexey Sergeevich Ilyin are the years of the dawn of our team. And it was under Alexei Sergeevich that the Ensemble received the title of laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

— A large musical group, which, of course, is the Loktev Ensemble, is famous not only for its leaders, but also for its performers. Children's musical group - graduates. Surely, you can name them too.

— Our graduates are a source of special pride for our team. Perhaps many people know that the now legendary dancer, choreographer, artist and writer Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev began his career in our team. This is a person who has all the titles that are possible in our profession. He is both a People's Artist of the Soviet Union and a laureate of various awards. Vladimir Viktorovich is a legendary man.

Our famous singer, also People's Artist of the Soviet Union, Tamara Ilyinichna Sinyavskaya, came from our team. This list can be continued endlessly. These are the people who brought glory to our country, our musical culture. And I am very pleased that the current members of the Ensemble really want to be like them. For our children, these people are the standard of creativity, to which they sincerely and conscientiously strive.

— What would you call the highlight of the Ensemble? What only you have?

— Our main “zest,” as you put it, is our traditions. They also include our traditional performance in the format that has developed historically in the Ensemble. This is a simultaneous performance of choir, orchestra and choreography. We, I’m not afraid to say this, are the only ones in the world who perform at concerts as such a large single group. There are probably no analogues.

The Loktev ensemble becomes a family not only for children and teachers, but also for their parents. We have a category of parents who call themselves “mommies on duty.” They invest all their time and effort, their warmth and love, not only in their children, but in all the children of the Ensemble.

— Before joining the Loktev Ensemble, you led other musical groups, the same Yaroslavl State Philharmonic. They were one of the leaders of the Moscow International House of Music. Why did you suddenly end up in the Loktev Ensemble? What does this mean to you personally?

“At first it was just an unexpected offer for me. Now I get real pleasure from my work, which cannot be compared with anything else. After all, before I came to the Loktev Ensemble, I had never worked with children. I consult and communicate a lot with my colleagues, who have devoted many years to children's musical creativity. And the longer I am inside this large and unique team, the more I admire both teachers and students. Children are designed this way - they react to everything vividly and sincerely. And this childish sincerity creates a very special creative atmosphere. She cannot help but infect with her energy, and give a powerful impulse so that I, for my part, as a manager, create projects in which children realize their potential at the maximum level. These children are still small, but they are already great artists.

- But for this, the Ensemble must also have a very experienced teaching staff...

— I can talk about this topic endlessly. The Ensemble employs very talented and passionate people whom I love and admire very much. I call my colleagues “people with only one entry in their work book.” Almost all of our teachers came to the Loktev Ensemble as children. This is our chief choreographer Marina Igorevna Egorova, our choreographer Denis Yurievich Berko, our choirmaster Anna Averyanenko. First, they received their first education here, then graduated from the country's leading universities, and then returned back to their children. Marina and Denis, for example, danced in the Moiseev Ensemble, Anna Averyanenko graduated from the Gnessin Academy of Music. The Ensemble still employs Anna Alekseevna Egorova, who was once invited by Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev himself, as well as Olga Ivanovna Mitrofanova, who has been teaching children choral art for many years. And largely thanks to them, the Ensemble maintains that connection between generations, without which its further development and achievement of new creative heights is impossible.

Almost all of our teachers had a connection to the team in the past. They either started their life’s journey here, or someone first brought their child here, and then, when a vacancy appeared, he became a teacher himself. And they have been working here for decades. There are also young teachers who once studied with their current colleagues. We are all, children, their parents, teachers - one big family.

— I can’t help but ask you a question, as a person who has worked with adult groups and now works with children’s groups. Based on your experience, which statement is true? Are talents born or are they made? How do you determine whether a child will grow into a new Vasiliev or Sinyavskaya or not?

— To be honest, a talented person is, after all, born. It certainly is. But talent needs to be developed. And this requires a lot of work, which allows our children to achieve serious results. And, frankly, our task is a little different. We do not strive to make all children, without exception, famous artists and musicians. We have no jealousy towards other educational institutions. When we see very talented children, we ourselves tell the children: “ Guys, maybe it makes sense for you to make this your future profession?“And then they go to a competition at the Bolshoi Theater Choreography Academy, Moiseev’s studio school, the Mariinsky Theater Academy, or a special music school. In my memory, there were already quite a lot of such children.

- But, surely, you have graduates who did not become famous musicians, but became successful in other areas of human activity?

“I’m very interested in watching where our children go.” And you know, they enter the most serious universities. Because they still get used to working seriously and working hard from childhood. Even though we are a non-professional team by status, we work and treat children exactly like professionals. We cannot be called a circle. We have very serious preparation, we perform at large venues. And this obliges us to be professionals.

Our teachers' many years of practice and vast experience allow us to almost accurately determine what type of musical creativity a child is most inclined to. As you understand, the same choreography has its own specifics. The child must have appropriate physical development, e.g. To participate in a choir, you must have some basic ear for music, which can then be developed. It's the same in the orchestra. But I want to note that my colleagues have such a gigantic set of professional knowledge and skills that allows them to reveal the talents of almost every child and do something interesting and bright with them.

— How do you manage to maintain a balance in which studying at the Loktev Ensemble does not interfere with children’s education in other subjects or distract them from them?

— It’s very difficult to tell here. This is a must see. Our rehearsals begin after 15:00. Before classes start, children sit and do their homework in the hallways. It seems to me that such work and such a regime teach them to work with maximum perseverance and manage their time correctly. And judging by the fact that we have practically no outflow, but, on the contrary, there is a very serious influx to us, it means that probably studying in the Loktev Ensemble does not really harm your studies at school. Or perhaps, rather, even the opposite. After all, most successful people are also musical. Music structures thinking and makes it deeper. She teaches not only how to play musical instruments or sing, but also how to analyze. And this helps to study in other subjects at school.

— In January you will have a big concert at the State Kremlin Palace. Not every musical group receives such an honor - to perform at one of the main stages of the country. Please tell me what the audience can expect? What kind of concert will it be?

- This will be a very interesting story. The concert is called “Connection of Generations”. We want to make a holiday for all generations of those who passed through our Ensemble. There will be a graduate choir and many other surprises. We will try to give everyone who is related to the Loktev Ensemble the opportunity to show themselves on this stage. This will be a celebration not only of the current composition of the Ensemble, but also of all graduates. I don't want to reveal all the secrets. Let me just say that we have prepared an interesting program and invite everyone to watch it.

— Will those who, for various reasons, cannot attend this concert, have the opportunity to see your band next year at some other venues?

- Undoubtedly. We regularly perform on the best stages in Moscow and other cities. You can regularly see us at the Moscow International House of Music, where we have a concert in the “Best Songs for Children” subscription, and, traditionally, in May at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. We have a lot of concerts throughout the year. Including tours.

— Ensemble named after V.S. Does Lokteva like to tour?

— In principle, any group loves to tour. Children may love it even more. For them, these are new experiences, a feeling of freedom. They are artists, they came to another city or country and spectators come to see them. This is a real event. You have to see how they prepare for such concerts, worry, try to overcome internal tension. How upset they are if something doesn’t work out and sincerely happy when everything works out. It is even interesting to watch them play football or tennis during such trips, or do their school homework.

It would seem that they went on tour, you can forget about school matters. Not so. Touring only disciplines them, makes them more collected and serious. And here I again want to express words of admiration for our teachers. When they work with children on stage, they are 100 percent choirmasters, choreographers, and conductors. And when they are on a trip with them or when there are pre-concert rehearsals, accommodation, etc., then these are very caring, but at the same time demanding teachers.

— Last question, Leonid Mikhailovich. Your Ensemble has long had its own audience. These are people who try not to miss a single concert or performance. How would you characterize these people? Who are they?

— Parents always come to our concerts. friends of children, friends of their families. You could say that we are, to some extent, a family club. The guys who graduated from our Ensemble come. They bring their children and relatives. Sometimes they themselves perform in such concerts. Although we train children under 18 years of age, the Ensemble has several performances where older children participate, who are already studying at universities and are also happy to come and take part in concerts. Finally, simply lovers of good quality music and choreography come to us. There are many spectators who came to the concert simply out of simple curiosity, but then do it again and again to enjoy the performances of our children.

— What do you think: does your team manage to preserve the charisma of the Loktev Ensemble that was originally inherent in it?

- But this is our absolutely unshakable rule. In all our concerts we try to live up to the standard that our founding fathers set for us. And the upcoming concert, which will take place in the Kremlin Palace, will be no exception.

Mona Platonova.

Young musicians from Children's Music School named after. E. Grieg will demonstrate his performing skills at the New Year's reporting concert on December 26.
District Prospekt Vernadskogo ZAO
25.12.2017 On Tuesday, December 19, an open concert will be held at the Academy of Choral Art on Festivalnaya Street in the form of a creative meeting of the choir groups of the Popov Academy of Arts and the Schnittke Moscow State Institute of Music.
Molzhaninovsky district of Northern Administrative District of Moscow
19.12.2017

Members of the Ensemble have a rare opportunity to study the history of the country not from textbooks. They are at the center of the main events. Be it a party or Komsomol congress, a Pioneer rally or the arrival of eminent guests!

Volodya Ionchenkov, Tolya Markelov and Vitya Goltsov. 1964

I remember the concert for delegates of the World Youth Forum, which took place on September 19, 1964. After such concerts, children stood for a long time near the Kremlin Palace of Congress, waiting for foreign delegates to come out to them, who always had badges, chewing gum, and souvenirs. There were never Elktevs among them. No! It was not a ban on approaching foreigners. Before one of the rehearsals, Loktev managed to explain to us what a sense of dignity is. And it always worked. Vladimir Sergeevich explained how to accept gifts, how a handout differs from a souvenir. There are times when you cannot refuse gifts so as not to offend the person. As, for example, in the situation in which I found myself in Bulgaria.

Once, after a concert in Plovdiv, I was given so many luxurious roses that I could not hold them all in my hands. And then a woman came up to me and started giving me more flowers. I showed her with gestures that my hands were full. The woman was upset to the point of tears and turned away. Loktev noticed this, came up to me and said:

- How dare you? This is an honored teacher of Bulgaria. You would never offend someone. I should have laid all the roses at her feet, and taken her bouquet and pressed it to my heart...

An ensemble is a school where correct relationships between people are fostered and a certain worldview is established. Loktev understood that rehearsals and concerts alone were not enough for children. Human relationships develop through communication and they should begin from the first days of birth. Boys and girls, when they are united by common memories, experiences, and common deeds, become more sociable, kind, and tolerant of the shortcomings of others. Loktevites, real Loktevtsy, will always lend a helping hand to each other, support not only in word, but also in deed.

Loktev, jokingly, ridiculed shortcomings, knew how to find the right word for the guilty.

He noticed shortcomings, but few people saw how he helped get rid of them. Along the way, the spoken word educated.

At one time, boys and girls developed a strange habit of chewing blades of grass. Once, while on tour in Siberia, our girls from the choir walked along the shore of Lake Baikal. One of them plucked a blade of grass, followed by another. They walk, talking to each other through blades of grass. Loktev and the supply manager meet them. Suddenly Vladimir Sergeevich stopped and loudly ordered:

- Michal Mikhalych! Look at the choir. Feed the girls well. Pay attention to Natasha. Give her two servings. Can't you see how hungry the child is! Chews hay day and night.

Friendship for life. Ensemble graduates, domrists Boris Mansurov and Vladimir Ionchenkov

He loved children very much

Ilyina L.A., student of the Ensemble in the 1970s,

Ensemble teacher since 1981

For the first time I heard the name of Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev under the most sorrowful circumstances. On that November day, the choirmaster of our district choir came to class very sad. “Guys,” said Valery Pavlovich, yesterday the wonderful musician, creator of the famous ensemble of the city Palace of Pioneers, Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev, passed away. Vladimir Sergeevich loved children very much and wrote many good songs for you. Today we will sing his songs." Vladimir Sergeevich’s songs were well known, they were heard on the radio, they were sung at school. I knew many of them well, but that day I especially felt how melodic these songs were and how pleasant it was to sing them.

Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev

“He loved children very much” - then these words were simply remembered, but later, when I was incredibly lucky to become a student of the Ensemble, by that time already proudly bearing the name of Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev, these words explained a lot in the life of this incredibly kind and friendly childish republic.

Note by A.S. Ilyin

The ensemble has always lived a very vibrant creative life. The classes, which we tried not to be late for and, especially, not to miss, were very interesting, and there were also joint rehearsals, concerts, tours... All this filled life to the brim with great joy. Wonderful teachers Jose Petrovich Philippe, Zoya Ivanovna Zhukova, Anna Alekseevna Egorova, Raisa Andreevna Zhdanova, Olga Ivanovna Biryukova... They taught us not only to sing, but also to behave correctly. Imperceptibly, little by little, they taught us the rules of good manners, taught us to always be friendly and modest. And that was right. I remember with what joy and pride I announced at school that I had been accepted into the choir of the Loktev Ensemble, and with what respect both teachers and schoolmates looked at me.

It wasn't just the choir teachers who taught us. One look from Elena Romanovna Rosse, an unsurpassed choreographer, made you stand at attention. And the girls who did the choreography were all absolutely beauties. They were so graceful and refined. I wanted so much to be like them at least a little bit.

Viktor Semyonovich Chunin is nervous, impetuous, very sensitive and very kind. Summary rehearsals under his leadership were always a holiday, although we worked hard on them.

It was necessary to study well. For bad grades, they could be excommunicated from classes in the Ensemble until they were corrected, and missing 1-2 classes, even due to illness, seemed like a big disaster. After all, during these classes the choir could learn new works, they could have a consolidated rehearsal or even a performance, and it would be a great shame to deprive oneself of such joyful events.

In Sochi! 1963

Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev, and then Alexey Sergeevich Ilyin, together with the teachers of the Ensemble, created a territory of kindness, where every child who came to study here felt good. Over the years, it became more and more difficult to enter the Ensemble. There were a lot of children (and parents) who dreamed about this, and it was already difficult to accept everyone. In the 80s, about one and a half thousand children were already studying in the Ensemble. But Vladimir Sergeevich’s tradition - for every child who came to the Ensemble to try to find a job that suits their liking and ability - was continued by Alexey Sergeevich Ilyin. Seriously ill Loktev himself asked his colleague to become the head of the team. From 1945 to 1962, Alexey Sergeevich taught string instruments at the Ensemble and was the director of the orchestra. In 1959, Nadezhda Sergeevna Nadezhdina, the creator and artistic director of the choreographic ensemble “Beryozka”, invited him to create an orchestra, and until 1968 Alexey Sergeevich worked in “Beryozka”. The wise Loktev knew that Ilyin would succeed, because Ilyin also loved children very much. I remember that every year during the reception, Alexey Sergeevich himself participated in auditions for choreography classes, and then gathered those children who did not pass the choreography class and took them to audition for the choir or orchestra. He talked about instruments, brought children together with their parents to the classes of instrumental teachers. “The main thing,” said Alexey Sergeevich, “is that the child enjoys studying with us, so that he wants to stay in the Ensemble.”

Alexey Sergeevich Ilyin

The Ensemble has many good traditions. One of them: laying flowers at the monuments of fallen soldiers in all cities where the Ensemble came on tour. Flowers were laid solemnly. The choir always sang “Krinitsy” by Andrei Eshpai. The guys always felt very keenly the importance of this moment.

We were in Khatyn. The monument, of course, shocked everyone. And one of our accordion players took off his pioneer tie, which he treasured very much, from his chest and tied it on the monument. And his tie was special, a very beautiful scarlet color. Such ties were not sold in the USSR.

And also - congratulations to the birthday person right on stage if the birthday coincided with the day of the concert. The guys who are so lucky when the artistic director himself congratulates you on stage, and the choir also sings the Loktev congratulatory song, remember this event all their lives. Graduates told me that that birthday was the most extraordinary and joyful. This tradition is continued by the current director of the Ensemble, Leonid Mikhailovich Fradkin. I think that today’s students also dream that their birthday will fall on the day of the Ensemble’s big concert.

It is impossible to imagine the Moscow Palace of Pioneers without the Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Lokteva. It is rightfully considered the pride of the Palace. The Ensemble's concerts are always a holiday, both for the children participating and for the listeners, since the children perform highly professionally, sincerely, and touchingly. The ensemble has trained several generations of musicians. But the main thing is not even this, but the high universal culture that children carry when they leave the Ensemble into adulthood. We bring to your attention two materials dedicated to the Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Loktev, written by his students. Thus, we are starting a series of publications dedicated to the eightieth anniversary of the Moscow Palace of Pioneers.

From the book by Vladimir Nikolaevich Ionchenkov “Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Loktev"

Ionchenkov V.N., a student of the Ensemble in the 1960s, now an Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, professor, director of the Moscow Balalaika virtuoso quartet

Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Loktev of the Moscow City Palace of Children's (Youth) Creativity - laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize is known not only in our country, but also abroad. How much joy and cheerful enthusiasm each performance of young artists gives to the audience! And how many adults, respectable people, looking at the stage, remember their happy childhood - a childhood in which the Ensemble was there!

Thousands of young Muscovites passed through the life-giving, kind hands of the Ensemble’s teachers. Many found here the main goal of their lives, and the rest, even if they did not become artists or musicians, forever retained a love of beauty in their souls.

Ensemble named after V.S. Lokteva is the first, and at the time of its creation, the only children's group in our country that united a choir, orchestra and choreographic groups into a single creative team. Subsequently, following the example of the Ensemble, more than four hundred similar groups were created in the USSR.

How did it all begin?

In the fall of 1936, an appeal appeared in the newspaper “Pionerskaya Pravda” to the head of the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, with a request to create a children’s Song and Dance Ensemble in the Moscow City House of Pioneers and Octobrists in Stopani Lane, building 6. A.V. Alexandrov accepted the offer.

On April 18, 1937, “Pionerskaya Pravda” published a message: “A pioneer song and dance ensemble is being organized at the Moscow House of Pioneers. Professor-order bearer A.V. Aleksandrov took over the patronage of the ensemble. The ensemble accepts pioneers and schoolchildren (no older than 16 years old) - the best musicians, singers and dancers of amateur art groups. Admission to the girls' group has already been completed. Admission of boys has now continued.”

Already in the first months of work, the Ensemble united 250 Moscow schoolchildren. Painstaking, systematic work, full of finds and discoveries, began. Six months later, on October 16, 1937, “Pionerskaya Pravda” again reported: “The pioneer song and dance ensemble, organized in the spring of this year at the Moscow House of Pioneers and Octobrists, is preparing to perform on the days of the 20th anniversary of the Great October Revolution. This will be the ensemble's first public performance. The team, numbering 250 people, is divided into groups: choir, orchestra and dance group.

The choir and orchestra are learning “Pioneer Drum” by A. Belov, “By the Fire”, “Life Has Become More Fun” by Professor Alexandrov, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian folk songs. The dance group is rehearsing Russian and Ukrainian, Red Army and Red Navy dances. The artistic director of the pioneer ensemble is People’s Artist of the USSR, order bearer, professor A.V. Aleksandrov.”

In November 1937, the first concert of the group took place in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. The children's performance made a great impression on Muscovites. This was noted by a publication in the newspaper “Evening Moscow” at the beginning of November 1937: “Yesterday a concert of children's creativity took place at the House of Unions, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Great Socialist Revolution. 500 students from Moscow music schools perform “The Internationale” in a combined choir. Thus began the evening, in which the greatest impression was made by various children's musical ensembles: a wonderful pioneer song and dance ensemble, practicing under the direction of People's Artist A.V. Alexandrov...”

In 1938, the Ensemble was headed by Vladislav Gennadievich Sokolov, in those years the organizer and artistic director of the children's choir at the Institute of Artistic Education, later People's Artist of the USSR, professor of the Moscow Conservatory. Children's concerts have always amazed us with their harmony. Poems, music, and dances performed by young artists complemented each other so much that “it seemed they never existed apart.”

The Great Patriotic War began. There was a forced break in the work of the city House of Pioneers. But already in 1942, as soon as the enemy was repelled from the walls of the capital, the House of Pioneers resumed active work. And in December 1941, Vladimir Loktev, a 5th year student of the Faculty of Music and Pedagogy of the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, a Stalinist scholarship holder, appeared in the city hall. His professional experience includes 6 years of work at the Variety Theater for Children as an accompanist and head of the musical department.

V.S. Loktev looked for children in Moscow courtyards, approached the children on the streets and in public transport, asking them one question: “Do you want to sing?” A man with inexhaustible optimism, charm, kindness, and who loved children, easily found his way to the hearts of schoolchildren. He dreamed of filling the lives of the children of harsh front-line Moscow with music, light, and joy.

The choir with which the Ensemble began consisted of 37 schoolchildren. Vladimir Sergeevich managed not only to create an ensemble, organizing the work of children and teachers, but also to provide children with food, vocational training, and a new relevant repertoire. “It seems like a miracle. Near the front. Air raid sirens sound almost every evening. In an unheated room in Stopani Lane, steam is coming out of open mouths, guys are wearing mittens, but the piano is playing - and everyone is singing - in defiance of the siren - they are singing about Victory, about the Motherland.” (V. Kryuchkov. Let's get to know each other!, 1967)

Very soon the guys were already performing for the wounded in hospitals, and became members of complex front-line brigades, which included young singers, dancers, and masters of artistic expression. The first performance of the Ensemble took place in the winter of 1942 in the active army near Smolensk on the Kalinin Front. They gave concerts for wounded soldiers in hospitals and for workers in factories.

Since that time, the ensemble often performs on the radio. All programs were broadcast directly. And how many times were they interrupted by air raid signals... In the last year of the war alone, the Ensemble gave more than 100 concerts in hospitals, military units, enterprises, and recruiting stations.

At the end of the war, the Ensemble received a letter from the active army: “Immediately after the victorious battle, turning on the radio, we heard children’s voices - this was the most dear greetings to the Motherland and congratulations on the final Victory.” Signature, date 05/02/45 - the day of the capture of Berlin.

25 members of the Ensemble, including artistic director V.S. Loktev, were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Moscow.” And in October 1947, Vladimir Sergeevich was awarded the Military Order of the Red Star.

The hard times passed, young Muscovites returned from evacuation, and already in the first year of peace the ensemble united more than 250 schoolchildren in its ranks.

Highly professional teachers and specialists worked alongside Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev, such as choreographers E.R. Rosse, V.S. Konstantinovsky, A.V. Kurilov, choirmasters A.V. Manucharova, L.M. Andreeva, O.I. Biryukova, Yu.S.Dyachkova, Z.I.Zhukova. “Vladimir Sergeevich turned rehearsals into fun and exciting activities, vigilantly noticing flaws in performance, costumes, and demeanor. If the dancers danced sluggishly, out of place, Loktev, not at all afraid of losing his authority, portrayed a dying swan to the friendly laughter of the choir and orchestra. But a few minutes later the orchestra made a mistake, and then kind irony was addressed to the orchestra members. But it was impossible to be offended by everyone, because “the form should bring pleasure and joy through its execution.”

In 1955, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, V.S. Loktev was awarded the high title “Honored Artist of the RSFSR.”

In 1962, the new Moscow City Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren opened on the Lenin Hills. The Ensemble moved here from Stopani Lane along with other groups. In the new Palace, an entire floor was dedicated to him with bright, large rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms and costume rooms for the choir, orchestra and choreography. Now the Ensemble has the opportunity to invite guests to its concerts in the modern concert hall of the Palace.

In 1967, the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Palace was included in the Book of Honor of the Komsomol Central Committee, Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize, and in 1976 the Ensemble was awarded the title of laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

For more than 25 years, the Ensemble was led by the Honored Artist of the RSFSR, laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize, Professor Vladimir Sergeevich Loktev. In 1968 he passed away. By a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR on February 5, 1969, the Ensemble was named after V.S. Loktev.

Alexey Sergeevich Ilyin, who has worked in the ensemble since 1945, took over the baton of leadership of the Ensemble. And on the long-standing personal recommendation of V.S. Loktev, Anna Alekseevna Egorova (now the chief choirmaster of the Ensemble) was invited to become the choirmaster.

Led by Alexey Sergeevich, the Ensemble delighted audiences with its sparkling art not only in the central halls of our country, such as the Bolshoi Theater, the Concert Hall. P.I. Tchaikovsky, Column Hall of the House of Unions, Concert Hall of the Institute. Gnessins, All-Union House of Composers. The guys had the opportunity to perform in front of sailors of the Pacific and North Sea fleets, in front of Antarctic whalers, and builders of the Bratsk, Divnogorsk and Krasnoyarsk power plants. They were applauded in the Baltic states and Central Asia; in Ukraine, Karelia, the Caucasus; their art was admired by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Holland, Egypt, Italy, Norway, Poland, Syria, USA, France, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Japan...

The Ensemble donated funds from the concerts to the Peace Foundation. Foreign tours have always been a huge success. It’s no wonder that the World Peace Council awarded the Loktevites the Honorary Jubilee Medal “For Contribution to Peace,” the first among children’s amateur groups!

The ensemble has always been a “pioneer singer”. Many famous authors trusted the Loktevites with the first performance of their works. And a happy fate awaited them: subsequently, other children's groups willingly included them in their repertoire. A particularly great friendship connected the Ensemble and the famous composer D.B. Kabalevsky, who not only wrote specifically for the Ensemble, but also conducted research in the field of children's musical culture on the basis of this ensemble.

The ensemble's repertoire is large: songs, dances, musical works by Russian and foreign composers, from different peoples of the world.

The following composers wrote specifically for the Ensemble: R. Boyko, A. Minkov, A. Ostrovsky, A. Pakhmutova, T. Potapenko, E. Podgaits, G. Podelsky, M. Protasov, A. Flyarkovsky, M. Fradkin, I. Frenkel, O. Khromushin, Y. Chichkov, A. Eshpay, and poets: S. Baruzdin, S. Bolotin, O. Vysotskaya, A. Zharov, N. Zavyalova, K. Ibryaev, V. Kryuchkov, M. Matusovsky, L. Oshanin , A. Prishelets, Y. Smelyansky, A. Tverskoy, G. Khodosov. More than a hundred songs for the Ensemble were created by V.S. Loktev. The Ensemble successfully performs works by I. Brahms, A. Verdi, F. Liszt, S. Glazunov, I. Dunaevsky, A. Sviridov, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Chernetsky...

Over the years of creative activity of the Ensemble, tens of thousands of Moscow schoolchildren have attended its school. Some of them, having received higher pedagogical or special education, returned to the ensemble as teachers.

Among the students of the Ensemble are outstanding musicians, conductors, singers, dancers, directors, art historians, teachers, artists of professional groups such as the Bolshoi Theater, the Igor Moiseev Ensemble, the Beryozka Ensemble, the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army. A. Alexandrov, orchestra of folk instruments named after. Osipov, folk instruments orchestra under the direction of N. Nekrasov, State Academic Russian Choir named after. A.V. Sveshnikov, choir under the direction of V. Polyansky, Russian Folk Choir named after. Pyatnitsky, the Dances of Russia ensemble, soloists of opera houses around the world.

The ensemble is proud of its students. Among the most expensive are Vladimir Vasiliev, Natalya Bessmertnova, Tamara Sinyavskaya, Lyubov Bogdanova, Stanislav Gusev, Nikolai Nekrasov, Nikolai Kalinin, Vladimir Ionchenkov, Elena Zaitseva, Marina Zhukova, Tamara Lukyanova, Tatyana Rachmaninova... As part of the ensemble they took their first steps on stage and For the rest of their lives they have remained grateful to him and his teachers Rolan Bykov, Nina Moleva, Alexander Pashutin, Mark Pekarsky...

The ensemble is still an active promoter of musical art and children's creativity. It is led by: Fradkin L.M. - artistic director, Averyanenko A.V. (student of the ensemble) - chief choirmaster, Egorova M.I. (student of the ensemble) - chief choreographer, Safronov A.S. - chief conductor.