WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — More than 300 people attended a charity concert of classical music in Washington in memory of the Russian Army's official choir Alexandrov Ensemble killed in a plane crash in December, event organizer and singer Olga Orlovskaya said.
"Some 320 guests came to the concert today," Orlovskaya told reporters on Friday after the performance at the Russian Embassy. "Moreover, we had some 150 people on the waiting list, whom we were unable to accommodate."
The singer noted, however, that one more charity concert will take place on March 24 at the Russian Cultural Center.
Orlovskaya, who lost her friends and colleagues in the December tragedy, explained that all the raised funds from the two events will be sent to the families of the plane crash victims.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak said that he felt very warm-hearted about the Russian compatriots took the initiative to honor the memory of the ensemble's members.
"I would also like to note that the audience, who were mostly Americans, reacted very warmly and wonderfully," Kislyak added.
The concert was held at the embassy's Golden Hall and featured well-known soprano Orlovskaya and mezzo-soprano Elizaveta Agladze, as well as pianist Anna Nizhegorodtseva, violinist Enrique Reynosa, guitar players Anna Kusner and Serge Khrichenko. The program included music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Borodin, Kaccini, and Bellini among others.
On December 25, the Russian Defense Ministry's Tu-154 plane heading from Moscow to Syria crashed shortly after refueling and take-off from the Russian southern city of Adler, near Sochi.
The plane was carrying 92 people, including eight crew members, 64 musicians of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine reporters, head of Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity Elizaveta Glinka, and two federal civil servants. None of them survived the crash.
