Founded in January of 1989 by Valery Petrov, the ORTHODOX SINGERS vocal ensemble has, over the past 15 years, established a reputation as one of the finest professional choral ensembles in Estonia. It has received awards at several international competitions and participates frequently in various European music festivals. The ensemble consists of professional musicians who are proficient in the performance practice styles of various epochs.

The ensemble's manner of performance is characterized by profound attention to every word in a sacred text, flawless vocal production, a carefully thought out dynamic plan, and an extraordinary sense of style. Critics have repeatedly singled out the ensemble's uncanny ability to preserve a work's unity of form in the course of a performance, while maintaining a matchless piano dynamic that resembles the "melting away of sound."

The primary creative focus of the choir is early Orthodox chant, which is rarely heard in concert performances. Their repertoire also includes great works of Russian sacred choral literature: compositions by Pavel Chesnokov, Alexander Arkhangelsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, as well as arrangements of Russian folk songs of a spiritual nature. In the last several years, the ensemble's repertoire has also come to include the music of contemporary Orthodox composers, among them Sir John Tavener, Valery Kalistratov, and Arvo Part. Arvo Part's music from the Kanon Pokajanen serves as the basis for a musical mystery play The Passion According to Andrew, which features an artistic representation of a secret night-time liturgy of early Christians in the Roman catacombs. The ensemble's concert programs also include music of Estonian composers Kirillus Kreek, Kuldar Sink, Veljo Tormis, and Arvo Part.

The ORTHODOX SINGERS have toured Russia, the USA, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, and Poland on several occasions, performances in the Cathedral of Christ Our Saviour, Moscow; the Dome Cathedral, Uppsala, Sweden; the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow; the Philadelphia Cathedral, Philadelphia, USA; the Stratford upon Avon Festival and the Nottingham Festival.

They have recorded five CDs, including Credo, Ancient Chants (Forte, 1995), and Early Russian Orthodox Chant (Albany Records, UK,1995).

VALERY PETROV (b. 1960), Conductor and Artistic Director of the "Orthodox Singers" vocal ensemble. Born in Leningrad. Graduated from the Estonian Musical Academy (1987). In 1989 established a chamber choir specializing in Orthodox sacred music, which, in 2003, adopted the name "Orthodox Singers."
Specialist in the area of early Slavic church singing and Medieval music. Known as a promoter of Orthodox sacred music in Estonia and northern European countries. Composer of a collection entitled All-Night Vigil (1999), based on original chants of the Valaam Monastery, which draws upon Orthodox music from different historical periods and styles. While expressing a preference for early music, Petrov at the same time is a marvelous interpreter of new music, including the music of Orthodox composers of the 20th and 21st centuries—among them Arvo Part, John Tavener, and Valery Kalistratov. His repertoire in the area of Orthodox sacred music has practically no stylistic or chronological boundaries. A conductor of the "authoriarian type," he strives for maximum thoroughness of interpretation, worked through to the tiniest details. Petrov's mastery is characterized by a virtuoso conducting technique, subject to a profound understanding of a work's spiritual essence and the composer's creative plan. He is capable of capturing and communicating to the ensemble the essential features of any style. His manner of conducting is characterized by economy of gesture, emotional restraint, a wonderful sense of form, coupled with a spiritual concentration. At the same time, he possesses an acute sense of dramatic gesture. Creator of "mixed-media" projects that synthesize musical and theatrical elements: the musical mystery-play Passion According to Andrew (2000) to the music of Arvo Part, which artistically portrays the secret night-time liturgy of the early Christians in the Roman catacombs, and the musical drama Quo vadis? for chorus, where music of the 20th and 21st centuries is heard alongside early chants.
Petrov regularly tours with his ensemble in Europe and the USA. Over the years he has shaped the Orthodox Singers into an ensemble marked by a high degree of professionalism. Its unique repertoire and performance manner have garnered widespread acclaim. The Orthodox Singers have received awards at numerous international competitions and have taken part in some of the leading European musical festivals. As one recent Estonian music critic noted: "To sing like this ensemble is impossible without belonging to the Orthodox world" (Ivalo Randalu, Sirp, 2 July, 2004). And yet another characteristic noted by critics and listeners: the unique piano that Valery Petrov is able to elicit from his ensemble. "At times it seemed that to sing so softly is next to impossible; the sound was like the wafting of a gentle breeze, through which one would be able to hear the fluttering of a maple leaf on a summer day" (Ivalo Randalu, Sirp, 2 July, 2004).
Petrov generously shares his mastery with young musicians, regularly holding master classes for conductors and singers in Estonia and in Sweden. He has also lectured at the Nottingham Trent University in Great Britain.
In June of 2004, during the largest choral festival in Europe, EUROPA CANTAT, which took place in Tartu, Estonia, Valery Petrov directed a Russian music seminar-practicum, the concluding concert of which was acclaimed as the finest one of the Tartu Musical Week.
With the Orthodox Singers Petrov has recorded three cassettes and five CDs. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival of Orthodox Sacred Music CREDO which has taken place annually in Estonia since 1994.
In 2003 Valery Petrov received an award from the Estonian Cultural Foundation for outstanding achievements in the area of culture, and in 2004—the Order of the White Star of the Estonian Republic.