Just over 100 voices will come together on Sunday night to perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers.

Yuri Klaz, the conductor of the Winnipeg Singers and the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir – two of the three choirs involved – calls it an “indescribable experience.”

“I’ve always wanted to perform Vespers with a large choir,” said Klaz, who has done it before, but with fewer voices. “When you do it with 50 voices your layers at too thin and Russian music needs more power and intensity in each voice.”

Klaz was born in Petrozavodsk, Russia where he became a graduate of the music college and the conservatory of music. After that he received his Master’s degree in conducting at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. He was awarded the prestigious title “Honoured Artist of Russia” and was honoured for his achievement in developing art in Russia.

Rachmaninoff wrote Vespers in 1916 at a time when religion and the Russian Orthodox Church were flourishing in the country. After that, communist leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin wanted to disassociate Russia with signs of traditional culture and religion, which led to the destruction of orthodox churches and orthodox priests and believers being killed or sent to work camps.

“My great grandfather was an orthodox priest in Russia,” said Klaz. “He was declared an enemy of the state when the Stalin regime took over and was killing and imprisoning people.”

“He was shot to death in 1937,” Klaz added, tearing up and taking a moment to take a sip of his water.

To him, Vespers is more than just a musical performance.

“I always feel like I’m connecting somehow on a spiritual level,” said Klaz. “You’re going into the depths of the all-night vigil and it’s not just ‘here’s your 15 numbers of great music,’ it has a visual component and much more.”

“We want the audience to take themselves from their existing situation and put themselves in a totally different environment that they’ve never been too and they’ve never experienced.”

Klaz says this means a lot to him.

“For me personally this is an amazing opportunity to perform what I grew up with and my roots are in Russian choral music,” said Klaz. “I’ve been hoping all my life to have this performed by 80 to 100 voices.”

Klaz said the director of the Arrowhead Chorale from Duluth, Minnesota contacted him a while back and asked him if he wanted to come south and perform Vespers. In turn, Klaz asked him to come north to Winnipeg and do the same. Then he thought it would be beneficial to both choirs if they combine their talents.

“It’s a great opportunity for all three choirs,” said Klaz. “We’ve all done Russian stuff before but no large choral works that are this substantial.”

The Winnipeg Singers, the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir and the Arrowhead Chorale will combine to make up about 100 and 110 singers, according to Klaz.

The concert takes place at Westminster United Church on the corner of Westminster Avenue and Maryland Street on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for anyone over 65 years of age and $15 for anyone under the age of 30. They can be purchased at McNally Robinson Booksellers, at the door or by calling 204-944-9100.