This unusual orchestra, which has no equal anywhere in the world, was established in 1998 by the legendary St. Petersburg musician Gennady Golshtein. Here is how he describes this event:

“The Saxophones of St. Petersburg emerged in my life most mysteriously and unexpectedly. In 1998, on the occasion of the anniversary of a musician friend of mine, I decided to assemble all of my current and former students of the Faculty of Jazz at the Mussorgsky Music School and combine them by the choral principle. In this way, a choir of saxophones was created. Out of my favorite tunes I selected Star Dust, My Melancholy Baby and It had To Be You and arranged them for 20 saxophones and talented singer Yana Radion. The effect was overwhelming and unexpected. Many of my friend musicians were moved to tears by the sounds of the Chorus and the music of My Melancholy Baby. For many years already, we have been opening our concerts with this exact tune.

Since then, our choir-orchestra has been performing at jazz festivals, in the St. Petersburg Jazz Philharmonic Hall and in other concert halls. Our repertoire naturally consists of the masterpieces of American music of the 1920ies – 1940ies. This is a tremendous legacy!”