The Soviet ensemble was created by F. N. Danilovich, director P. I. Ilyin and choirmaster A. V. Aleksandrov. The main organiser and the first musical director of the ensemble was the professor of the Moscow Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky , later People's Artist of the USSR , composer Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883-1946); he led the ensemble for 18 years. The first performance of the Ensemble took place in the Central House of the Red Army, October 12, 1928. The team consisted of 12 people: 8 singers, 2 dancers, an accordion player and a reader. The performance was a great success - and after it the decision to create the ensemble was finally approved. October 12, 1928 is considered to be the birthday of the military creative team. On December 1, 1928, the ensemble was enrolled in the staff of the Central House of Arts and was named the Red Army Song Ensemble of the Central House of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze . Since November 27, 1935 it was named the Red Banner Ensemble of the Red Army Song and Dance of the USSR . On this day, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR issued a resolution on awarding the team with the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner with the Order of the Red Star attached to it . At the same time, the head of the ensemble A. V. Alexandrov was awarded the same order , and 10 participants, the head P. I. Ilyin and 2 organizers F. N. Danilovich and A. S. Gorsky became holders of the Order of the Badge of Honor introduced the day before. By December 1, 1935, the team had grown to 135 people. One of the distinguishing features of the ensemble is the presence in the orchestra of Russian folk instruments - domra and balalaika . Nowadays, The Alexandrov Ensemble (also known as the Red Army Choir) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. The Ensemble has entertained audiences both in the Soviet Union and throughout the world, performing a range of music including folk tunes, hymns, operatic arias and popular music. The group's repertoire has included The Volga Boatmen's Song, Katyusha, Kalinka, and Ave Maria. It is named for its first director, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883–1946). Its formal name since 1998 has been A. V. Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army (Russian: Академический ансамбль песни и пляски Российской Армии имени А. В. Александрова, Akademichesky ensemble pesni i plyaski Rossiyskoy Armii imeni A. V. Alexandrova), shortened to Academic Ensemble (Академический ансамбль, Akademichesky ensemble) on second reference. On 25 December 2016, its artistic director, Valery Khalilov, and 63 other members of the Ensemble were killed in the Russian Defence Ministry aircraft crash of a 1983 Tupolev Tu-154 into the Black Sea just after takeoff from the southern resort city of Sochi, Russia. The Red Army Choir singers and dancers were en route to Syria to entertain Russian troops there for Orthodox Christmas celebrations. At the establishment, in 1928, the choir was named Red Army Song Ensemble of the M. V. Frunze Red Army Central House (Ансамбль красноармейской песни Центрального дома Красной Армии имени М. В. Фрунзе). In 1935, it was renamed Red-Bannered Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble of the USSR (Краснознамённый ансамбль красноармейской песни и пляски СССР). In 1949 the ensemble was officially named the A. V. Alexandrov Twice Red-bannered and Red-starred Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army (Дважды Краснознамённый ордена Красной Звезды ансамбль песни и пляски Советской Армии имени А. В. Александрова). In 1978 the word "academic" was added to the title (A. V. Alexandrov Twice Red-bannered and Red-starred Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the ensemble received its present name in 1998. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Choir