Yaroslavl State Philharmonic

Founded in 1937 around Yevgeny Stompelev's orchestra of folk instruments and a handful of chamber variety groups, the Yaroslavl philharmonic acquired a symphony orchestra in 1944 on the initiative of its director A. E. Umansky. Its Sobinov Concert Hall took a Wilhelm Sauer organ in 1974 and has heard Richter, Gilels, Oistrakh, Kogan and Rostropovich, as well as the first performances of Khrennikov's second piano and second violin concertos. The institution passed from regional to state status in 2005. Besides the academic symphony orchestra, long headed by Murad Annamamedov, it maintains the Yaroslavia choral capella and two folk-instrument ensembles.