he choir owed its existence to Mary Arapoff. Arapoff assembled the choir out of students and faculty of Boston College interested in religious and folk Russian music. Some members of the group were studying Russian, while others were either native speakers or had Russian and Slavic backgrounds.

Polly Jackson, who brought her beautiful alto to the choir, says: "Singing Russian sacred music is a deeply spiritual experience and it is such a joy to share this treasure with fellow students. We gather weekly simply because we love to sing from that tradition, not because of duty, and ultimately that opens the channel for a true and honest expression of the music, which is full of love for God and the Russian motherland." Michael Margolin, whose family emigrated to the US from the Soviet Union, concurred: "Singing is one way to stay connected to yourself. It's like a really vivid history lesson: you imagine yourself a hundred years ago, singing songs as a common folk. You begin to intimately appreciate our rich heritage."

Named after legendary icon painter Andrei Rublev, the Texas Choir continues to give voice during performances to Russia's rich spiritual heritage. In Texas, some of the choir have Orthodox backgrounds, while all have a love of this Russian music, here sung in translation. During the performance, the ancient songs and chants are presented as an accompaniment to several icons painted by Arapoff's father Alexis Arapoff, an émigré Russian artist.