Irina Shachneva
Artistic Director
As a professional conductor with over 40 years of experience, Irina Shachneva has established herself as a versatile and accomplished musician. Her passion for choral music was ignited in her teenage years in Russia, leading her to earn a Bachelor of Music with Honors from Penza Music College and a Master of Music from the Gorky State Conservatory (Nizhny Novgorod).
After coming with her family to the United States in 1994, Irina continued her education with three years of conducting classes with Tamara Brooks at the New England Conservatory of Music. She established the Boston Russian Chorus and has been a guest conductor of the New England Conservatory Chorus, the Jordan Hall Festival Chorus, and the Plymouth Festival Chorus. Irina also worked as an organist, pianist, and conductor in her capacity as Music Director at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Acton, Massachusetts, where she led choirs and orchestras in performances ranging from the German Renaissance to modern American composers. The choir/orchestra ensemble performed to acclaim at the International Music Festival in Würzburg, Germany in 2011.
In 2010, Irina founded and became the Artistic Director of the International Rachmaninoff Russian Music Festival in Boston. Its success led to a prestigious invitation to Russia, where she led the Festival Choir at an International Choral Festival celebrating the 450th anniversary of the famed St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.
Many of Irina's musical achievements have been realized in her capacity as Artistic Director of Slavyanka Chorus, a position she has held since 2012.
As former Director of the Boston Russian Chorus and the current Artistic Director of Slavyanka Chorus, Irina organized four large-scale Choral Festivals: two in Boston (2010, 2012) and two in San Francisco (2014, 2017), all of which brought together talented international musicians and choral groups to celebrate the beauty and power of choral music. In 2016, Irina led Slavyanka Chorus on a highly successful concert tour to Russia, where the Chorus performed at the 150th Anniversary celebration of Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory (the only American choir to be invited), gave a concert at St. Petersburg's Glinka Cappella, and sang joint concerts with three Russian choirs, all to highly enthusiastic audiences.
Since being in the USA, Irina has produced more than 60 unique concert programs that showcase her artistic vision and dedication to discovering new and unknown music. Some notable productions include the American premieres of A. Schnittke's Requiem, S. Taneyev's cantata John of Damascus, G. Sviridov's Kursk Songs, and Choral Music of Contemporary Slavic Women Composers. She's also led performances of Russian choral masterworks, including P. Tchaikovsky's Liturgy, several by S. Rachmaninoff (Liturgy, the All-Night Vigil aka "Vespers", and Three Russian Songs), and I. Stravinsky's Four Russian Songs for choir and four French horns.
Irina is certified in Estill Figure Proficiency (EFP) from Estill International Voice, and concurrently serves as Choir Director at All Russian Saints Orthodox Church in Burlingame, CA. Her commitment to music education extends to teaching piano, voice, and music theory to students of all ages in her private studio in San Jose.
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Gregory Smirnov (1997 - 2011)
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Aleksei Shipovalnikov (1991 - 1997)
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Paul Andrews (1979 - 1991)