The Moscow Boys Choir will appear Dec. 2 as the next installment in Slippery Rock University's Performing Arts Series.

SLIPPERY ROCK — The flavor of an international Christmas comes to the Slippery Rock University campus Dec. 2 when the Moscow Boys Choir presents “Christmas Around the World.”

Founded in 1957, the choir is widely regarded as the most prestigious all-boy choir in Russia.

In Moscow, members of the choir attend a special school, The Moscow Boys Capella, that is much like the magnet performing arts schools in the West. The school provides both general education and musical training.

Participants in the touring company are handpicked from more than 400 students and are required to have discipline matched to their talents.

Those in the choir typically begin musical studies at age 5, but are not allowed to publicly perform until 9.

The group's first U.S. tour was in 1993. The choir has also toured Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Scandinavia, South Korea and Japan. They have sung at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and the Kremlin, where they have performed with the Presidential Orchestra on several occasions.

They also have appeared in a command performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London for members of the British royal family.

The choir is in its 12th North American tour and is visiting a dozen states in the U.S. while also presenting concerts in New Brunswick, Canada.

The choir is directed by Victoria Smirnova. Leonid Golubev is the accompanist.

Smirnova, a soprano, has served as conductor and choir mistress since the death of her husband, Leonid Baklushin, then conductor of the choir, in 2011.

The concert will rely on Christmas traditions from around the world.

Selections will include “Ave Maria,” “Ode to Joy,” “Hallelujah Chorus,” “Feliz Navidad,” “O! Tannenbaum,” “Silent Night” and “The 12 Days of Christmas,” among others.

<B>WHO:</B> Slippery Rock University’s Performing Arts Series<B>WHAT:</B> Moscow Boys Choir<B>WHEN: </B>7:30 p.m. Dec. 2<B>WHERE: </B>University Union Multi-Purpose Room at SRU<B>TICKETS: </B>$22 for the general public; $20 for senior citizens; $15 for youths 17 and younger; and $8 for SRU students. Call 724-738-2018.In addition, AVI, the campus contract food vendor, will offer soups, salads and sandwiches related to the show’s theme beginning at 6 p.m. in the University Union lobby. No reservations are required.