We are very pleased to present our first release in a new series from the PaTRAM Institute. The music performed on this recording of Orthodox choral music in the Slavonic language was written by famed Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944). Teach me Thy Statutes is performed by the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, a highly professional group which is a collaboration of Russian and American singers. The male choir is considered by many to be the mainstay of traditional chant and Orthodox monasticism. PaTRAM Institute Singers and Reference Recordings are planning several more CD releases over the next 5 years with Dr. Peter Jermihov as artistic director and conductor. Teach Me Thy Statutes was recorded in Russia in July of 2016 in the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian Orthodox Church, at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary. PaTRAM’s objective was to immerse the listener in the beautiful Russian monastic style of singing through its fullness and richness of sonority. Highly-esteemed conductor Maestro Vladimir Gorbik, whose pedigree is from the Moscow Conservatory and as choirmaster of the Holy Trinity—St. Sergius Lavra Representation Choir (monastery), skillfully unites strong musicianship with superb diction to a degree that is seldom heard outside of Russia, but which epitomizes the best traditional culture of singing in the Russian Orthodox Church. Reviews: “Really, this is a remarkable recording… Is there nothing this choir can’t do, no challenge to which they can’t rise? Of course, so much credit is due to Gorbik’s inspiring leadership, his devotion to, and affinity for, this music laid bare in every bar. In short, a fine start to what promises to be a most valuable and rewarding project. Intensely beautiful singing and sound; quite simply, choral albums don’t come much better than this.” —Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International “The PATRAM Institute Male Choir conducted by Vladimir Gorbik has just released a recording of Chesnokov’s music, and it’s breathtaking. … Many thanks to Reference Recordings (the Kansas City Symphony’s record label) for bringing this unearthly beautiful music out of obscurity for the world to enjoy. It’s a Super Audio hybrid recording, so if you have a Super Audio player, you will really be blown away by the power and profundity of this impressive disc recorded in churches at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary in Russia.” —Patrick Neas, Kansas City Star