RUS 102 Class Sings at the Hawaiian Symphony Orchestra's Performance of 'Scheherazade'

If someone had told me just a couple years ago that I would be singing a song in Russian at the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, I never (ever) would have believed it. And yet, there I was this past weekend singing Москва Златоглавая with my fellow classmates during intermission of the symphony’s sublime and moving performance of Scheherazade- the symphonic story of A Thousand and One Nights- which was composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Kovsakov in 1888.

So how did that happen? If you remember from a previous blog post, I talked about our Russian 102 class singing Москва Златоглавая during our campus-wide celebration of Maslenitsa. (We sang and handed out hundreds of free блины/pancakes for the UH-Manoa community). Members from the Waikiki Yacht Club saw our performance and asked us to sing at the symphony. They even graciously sponsored our tickets for the event. We (nervously!) accepted and performed during the intermission of the show.

RUS 102 students and faculty, after our performance at the symphony

I had a great time- both listening to the symphony and singing during intermission. We performed out on the lanai, and the audience surrounded us on 3 sides to listen. I was definitely nervous (I’ve never even done karaoke- with English songs- IN MY LIFE) but it was still so much fun. The audience clapped along with us while we sang, creating a lively, intimate atmosphere. Members of the audience, after our performance, asked us all sorts of questions- about our attire, the song, the Russian department, and to take their picture with us (which I thought was really kind).

Pictures with audience members after singing

I'm really grateful to be able to participate in such an event! And again, special thanks to Waikiki Yacht Club for sponsoring our tickets and asking us to perform. Please check out more pics below!