Serge Alexis Jaroff (russian: Серге́й Алексе́евич Жа́ров) ( – 5 October 1985) was the founder, conductor and composer of the Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff.

Biography

Jaroff was born in

Makaryev Makaryev (russian: Мака́рьев) is a town and the administrative center of Makaryevsky District in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Unzha River (Volga's tributary), east of Kostroma, the administrative center of t ...

Kostroma Governorate Kostroma Governorate (russian: link=no, Костромская губерния, ''Kostromskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its adminis ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He trained at the Moscow Synod School for Choral Singing. He served as a

Don Cossack Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До� ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. In 1920, the

Don Army The Don Army (russian: Донская армия, ) was the military of the short lived Don Republic and a part of the White movement in the Russian Civil War. It operated from 1918 to 1920, in the Don region and centered in the town of Novocher ...

were driven into the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. From there they evacuated to a Turkish internment camp near Constantinople, (now

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

). In January 1921, Jaroff put together a choir from Russian refugees in the internment camp. Most of the singers who later performed in the Don Cossacks Choir had been members of the Don divisions since the war in 1914. The 3rd Don division in March 1921 was interned on the Greek island of

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

. Then the troops, including the singers, were shipped to

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. The Russian representative asked Jaroff and his choir to join the church. On 23 June 1923, they performed in the cathedral of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

and made their formal concert debut in Vienna on 4 July 1923. They subsequently toured America where they were extremely popular and had other international tours in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The men, dressed as Cossacks, sang a repertory of

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

sacred and operatic music, army songs and folk songs. Cossack dancing was eventually added to the performance. Jaroff's last tour was in the 1978–1979 season of the company, but Jaroff continued as the choir leader until 1981.

Personal life

Jaroff married Neonila, and had one son, Aljosha. They lived in

Lakewood Township, New Jersey Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+45.5% ...

, where Jaroff died in 1985. He became a US citizen after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He is buried at St Mary's R.O. Cemetery in Jackson, New Jersey.

Selected filmography

* ''

The White Devil ''The White Devil'' (full original title: ''The White Divel; or, The Tragedy of Paulo Giordano Ursini, Duke of Brachiano. With The Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona the famous Venetian Curtizan'') is a tragedy by English playwright John We ...

'' (1930) * '' Moscow-Shanghai'' (1936) * ''

A Prussian Love Story ''A Prussian Love Story'' (german: Preußische Liebesgeschichte) is a 1938 German historical romance film directed by Paul Martin and starring Karl Günther, Hans Nielsen, and Willy Fritsch. The film depicts the love affair between William I and ...

'' (1938) * ''

Yes, Yes, Love in Tyrol ''Yes, Yes, Love in Tyrol'' (german: Ja, ja die Liebe in Tirol) is a 1955 West German musical comedy film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Gerhard Riedmann, Hans Moser, and Doris Kirchner. It is a loose reworking of the plot of the pl ...

'' (1955)

References

External links

NY Times obituary

Don Cossack Chorus history

Michael Minsky–Legend of a Don Cossack

Discopedia of Serge Jaroff Don Cossack Chorus on Russian-Records.com
* DVD Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff brilliantclassics nr. 8892 * Sergei Jaroff and the Don Cossack Choir http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/88292.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaroff, Serge American choral conductors American male conductors (music) American Cossacks Don Cossacks People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey Russian composers Russian male composers White Russian emigrants to the United States 1896 births 1985 deaths People from Makaryevsky Uyezd (Kostroma Governorate) Russian choral conductors Russian male conductors (music) 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians