Pimenov, Sergey Yuryevich

Sergey Pimenov was born on November 27, 1961 in the city of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk Region . In 1981 he graduated from the conductor and choral department of the Tchaikovsky Music College. In 1986 he graduated from the Ural State Conservatory named after M. P. Mussorgsky with a degree in Choral Conducting. In 1982-1991 he worked in the Sverdlovsk State Children's Philharmonic Society, having gone from a beginner to the main choirmaster.

In 1991, a choir group was created in Yekaterinburg - the Choir of Boys and Youths at the Ural State Conservatory ^[1] . In 1992, the Male Choral Lyceum was founded on the basis of this choir. The lyceum belonged to the administration of Yekaterinburg. The “creator” of the choral lyceum was Eugene Gimmelfarb , who in 1996 was appointed its director ^[2] . However, for health reasons, Gimmelfarb could not lead him ^[2] . Sergey Pimenov became the artistic director and director of the Lyceum, as well as the main conductor of the Concert Choir of Boys and Youths in it. The teaching was conducted according to the author’s methodology of Sergei Pimenov, called the “Phonetic Method of Vocal Education of Children”.

In 2006, the Male Choral Lyceum was renamed the Sverdlovsk Male Choral College and the Ministry of Culture of the Sverdlovsk Region became its founder ^[1] . This happened due to the reform of local self-government, according to which the institutions of secondary vocational education could not be in the ownership of municipalities ^[3] . The administration of Yekaterinburg tried to circumvent the reform in order to leave the lyceum in its ownership. At first they tried to transform the choral lyceum into a comprehensive school with a musical bias ^[3] . However, this did not succeed - the administration of the choral lyceum was against ^[3] . After that, the decision of the Yekaterinburg administration came out, according to which the Male Choral Lyceum united with the Musical Lyceum in the academy (the municipality could have owned universities) ^[3] . However, this decision was quashed by the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region, which recognized the transfer of the male choral lyceum to regional ownership as legitimate ^[3] . During this conflict, in 2006, Sergei Pimenov was dismissed from the post of director of the male choral lyceum ^[3] . However, it was restored when the lyceum became regional property.

In 2010, Sergei Pimenov was removed from the post of director for failure to comply with orders of the Ministry of Culture of the Sverdlovsk Region to eliminate violations identified during the audit ^[4] . The new director was Margarita Tlisova ^[4] . After the protests of the parents of the students, it was decided that Tlisova would become the director, and Pimenov would be the art director ^[4] .

In 2015, Pimenov was removed from the post of artistic director of the college ^[5] . In response, several dozen parents entered the college building in March 2017 and demanded an explanation from the new director, Vyacheslav Kulmametiev ^[5] . Armed policemen were called and arrived at the scene ^[5] . Kulmametiev spent about six months as director. During this time, the Minister of Culture of the Sverdlovsk region held meetings with the dissatisfied in college ^[2] . Letters against Pimenov were sent to the Ministry of Culture of the Sverdlovsk Region accusing him of having humiliated children who had refused to make music and sing ^[2] . There were complaints about Pimenov ^[2] . In July 2015, Alexey Viktorovich Voynya was appointed the new director ^[6] . Pimenov became his deputy ^[7] .

• 1999 - The Regional Public Organization “Association of Participants of Children and Youth Choirs” was created, uniting more than 150 choral groups. Sergey Pimenov is the vice president of the association;
• 2005 - in Yekaterinburg, under the direction of Sergei Pimenov, the first, now already traditional, International Choir Festival "Christmas in Russia" is held;
• 2007 - at the initiative of Sergei Pimenov, in honor of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Malta , the International Festival of Russian Culture in Malta was established. Sergey Pimenov is the artistic director of the festival.

Created at the Ural State Conservatory in 1991, the Boys and Youths Choir today is called the Concert Choir of Boys and Youths of the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Secondary Professional Education of the Sverdlovsk Region "Sverdlovsk Male Choral College" or, briefly, the SMHK Concert Choir. During its existence, under the direction of Sergei Pimenov, the choir team has achieved outstanding results and has been highly noted at performances in various cities of Russia and the world.

• 1993 - Laureate of the V International Slavic Choir Assembly "Friendship", Moscow , I place;
• 1993 - Concert tour, Chicago ( USA );
• 1994 - Laureate of the XXVI World Congress of Choirs, Rome , Vatican , Italy ;
• 1995 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Tampere ( Finland ), I place, gold diploma;
• 1995 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Arnhem ( Netherlands ) II and III place;
• 1995 - Laureate of the European Radio and Television Competition, Denmark ;
• 1996 - Laureate of the IV International Choir Competition, Riva de Garda ( Italy ), I place, gold diploma, special prize for the best choral arrangement;
• 1996 - Laureate of the I International Competition named after F. Mendelssohn , Dautfetal ( Germany ), II and III place, diploma for outstanding achievements in the field of choral art;
• 1997 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Tampere ( Finland ), I place, gold diploma;
• 1997 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Alba ( Italy );
• 1999 - XXI National Congress of Conductors of America , concert tour, Chicago ;
• 1999 - Laureate of the International Choir Competition named after Dimitrova, Varna ( Bulgaria ), II and III place;
• 2000 - Laureate of the International Festival "Choral Music in the Urals", Yekaterinburg ;
• 2000 - Laureate of the VI International Choir Festival, Szekesvehervar ( Hungary ), 1st place, audience prize and special prize of the mayor of the city;
• 2001 - Laureate of the International Festival "Christmas in Russia", Yekaterinburg , I place;
• 2001 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Veszprem ( Hungary );
• 2002 - Laureate of the All-Russian Festival of Work Youth Creativity "Youth", Yekaterinburg ;
• 2002 - Laureate of the youth choir festival "If the guys of the whole earth", Yekaterinburg ;
• 2002 - Song Festival in Tallinn ( Estonia );
• 2002 - Concert tour of the cities of Spain ;
• 2003 - Laureate of the II International Choir Festival of Children and Youth Choirs "Christmas in Russia", Yekaterinburg , I place;
• 2003 - International Summer Choir Camp in Odessa (Koblevo Village);
• 2003 - XIX International Festival of Children and Youth Choirs Pardubice , Czech Republic ;
• 2003 - Festival of sacred music of the city ​​of Pyt-Yakh ;
• 2004 - Festival of music of I. S. Bach , Kokshetau , Kazakhstan , (the program of J. Pergolesi “Stabat Mater” is presented), Orenburg ;
• 2004 - Festival “Days of Music for Children and Youth” (presented by J. Pergolesi's “Stabat Mater” and “Masterpieces of Choral Art” programs)
• 2005 - Diploma-recipient at the 53rd International Polyphonic Music Competition , Arezzo ( Italy );
• 2006 - A concert at the Orenburg Philharmonic with the participation of the Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Names choir. "Requiem" by W. Mozart . Orenburg city ;
• 2007 - The First International Festival of Russian Culture in Malta . Bugibba city;
• 2007 - I All-Russian Festival of Boys Choirs. Moscow
• 2008 - The Fifth International Festival of Sacred Choral Music. Rottenburg ( Germany );
• 2008 - The Third International Festival of Russian Culture in Malta . Bugibba city;
• 2009 - The Fourth International Festival of Male Voices in Cornwall ( England ) III place;
• 2010 - The Second International Choir Festival in Aveiron ( France );
• 2011 - International Choir Competition-Festival in Veszprem ( Hungary ) I place;
• 2011 - VI International Festival of Russian Culture in Malta "Malta Lira", Bugibba ( Malta );

In 2002, on the basis of the graduates of the lyceum, Sergey Pimenov, the Russian Singers' male choir was created, which is currently the laureate of many competitions and festivals both in Russia and abroad. According to the head, “Russian Singers” is a unique sounding collective, consisting of excellent soloists who can work in a team.

• 2000 - Laureate of the International Wine Song Contest, Pecs ( Hungary );
• 2001 - Laureate of the International Choir Festival, Arnhem ( Netherlands ), II place;
• 2001 - Laureate of the V Ural Choral Assembly, Chelyabinsk ;
• 2002 - Festival "Days of Music for Children and Youth", Orenburg ;
• 2003 - Festival of sacred music of the city ​​of Pyt-Yakh ;
• 2004 - Symbiophonies Festival 04, Janblou ( Belgium );
• 2005 - Diploma-recipient at the 53rd International Polyphonic Music Competition, Arezo ( Italy );
• 2007 - Fourth Youth Festival of Russian Art , Cannes ( France );
• 2011 - International Choir Competition-Festival in Veszprem ( Hungary ) I place;

In 2011, the husband of the teacher, Yulia Zhikhareva, Alexander Zhikharev said that Pimenov and his wife created the class of the Sverdlovsk male choral college in which their son studied, “all sorts of conditions” and even altered the curriculum if their son did not need any kind of training subject ^[8] .

In 2011, the Center for the Development of Civil Society, led by lawyer Nikolai Bogdanov, distributed a letter to the residents of the Sverdlovsk region and Russia in which he proposed depriving Sergei Pimenov of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region on the following grounds ^[9] :

• Pimenov teaches children "public lies." An example was the case when, after the choir of the Sverdlovsk Male College Choir took third place at the International Cornwall Festival in 2009, Pimenov "strictly" ordered the choir to say that the choir allegedly took first place and spread the word about this first place;
• In March 2011, it was seen on a distributed video that students of the Sverdlovsk male choral college mocked a lesson in solfeggio teacher Oksana Marchenko. They poked her with a pole, grimaced, cursed. And among the participants in the mockery was Pavel - the son of Sergei Pimenov. And the class leader of the class that mocked Marchenko was the wife of Sergei Pimenov, who worked as the deputy director for educational work. Pimenov himself called this incident a "joke." After this incident, Tatyana Yakusheva, who was the first to report this fact to the Minister of Culture of the Sverdlovsk Region, as well as Marchenko herself, who was deprived of “teaching practice with lower wages”, was punished.

In 2015, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation received a letter criticizing Pimenov for sometimes coming to college while intoxicated, telling “children” “obscene jokes” and swearing in class ^[2] . Elvira Arkhangelskaya, director of the Ural College of Music, argued that the Pirenov-led Sverdlovsk Male Choir College did not violate the law in preparing graduates for admission to the conservatory.

1998 - Teacher of the year in the Sverdlovsk region ;
2000 - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation ;
2002 - Medal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “200 years of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia” ;
2005 - “Leader of the Year” according to the rating of the newspaper “Musical Review” ;
1998 - Laureate of the Prize of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region for outstanding achievements in the field of literature and art for the concert program “Monographic Concert of P. Chesnokov”;
2001 - Laureate of the Daffney Haire Memorial Competition;
2010 - Laureate of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of literature and art for the creation of the concert program "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in Reading by Russian Composers".

• 1995 - "Believe." Concert choir of boys and youths;
• 2002 - J. Pergolesi “Stabat Mater”. Concert choir of boys and youths;
• 2008 - CD-card "With Love." Male Choir "Russian Singers" ;
• 2008 - CD-card "Spiritual Easter chants". Concert choir of boys and youths;
• 2008 - CD-card "Spiritual Easter chants". Male Choir "Russian Singers" ;
• 2010 - “Best for you.” Male choir "Russian Singers" .

• Sverdlovsk Male Choral College