St Petersburg's House of Scientists will have to turn itself from a breeding place of grand theories into a virtual holy shrine this week when choral prophets will be delivering their message.
The city's popular Singerbridge Chamber Choir will grace the scientists' home with their distinctively moving resurrections of Russian sacred music, music many once believed had died with the Russian empire.
Since the group was established in 1993, its singers have been taking such music away from cloistered churches and allow the general public to be touched by the spiritual glories of old Russia.
There are a number of choral groups in the city, but Singerbridge choir director Andrei Sysoyev claims his group serves a special purpose, operating on quite different principles.
"We are a group of penniless music enthusiasts, determined to rescue Russian folk songs and sacred music after about a century of inertia and neglect," he said.
Despite their original aims, the choir has not limited itself to Russian folk and religious singing.
Singerbridge Chamber Choir members are all young -- so they have included various choral styles in their repertoire, ranging from western European classics to Russian secular music from several different centuries and songs from contemporary composers the world over.
Sysoyev is proud the choir has achieved its success without government assistance. The choir has won a number of awards, including last year's Gold medal at the Vatican Third International Competition of Sacred Music Choirs -- "Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina."
Sysoyev said the choir will release its first compact disc in the spring.