Students of the St. Petersburg Conservatory are being sent to a patriotic music concert

As Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports, the concert is titled “Come to Us: Rus’ Is Calling You”. The event is to take place on October 5 at the Academic Chapel, and the conservatory choir is listed on the poster among the performers.

According to Bumaga, the students were given sheet music and lyrics for three songs they will perform. Among them are “Music for Victory: When We Return Home”, with lyrics by Dmitry Filippov, who voluntarily went to the war against Ukraine, “Donbas Bids Farewell to Its Sons..”., with lyrics by “fighter against Russophobia” Sergei Borovsky, and “They Were Shooting at the People of Donetsk..”., with lyrics by Z-poet Maria Vatutina.

Students who do not support the war in Ukraine cannot refuse to take part in the concert, since stage performances are part of the mandatory curriculum. Bumaga’s student sources said they find it unpleasant to “support this with their own mouths”, and, according to them, refusals may be followed by reprimands and failing grades.

The publication also cites a case from spring 2026: a first-year piano student dropped out of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. According to her, the reason was a denunciation by a teacher after she demonstratively left the hall during a screening of a propaganda film and posted pacifist messages on social media.

Sources

• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty