Conductor Misha Rachlevsky started a Moscow-based orchestra in 1991.

After 17 years of playing around the world, he brought his orchestra to Eastern for a single show.

The Kremlin Chamber Orchestra played Sunday afternoon in the Dvorak Concert Hall at the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The orchestra played music by Edward Elgar, Dmitri Shostakovich, Bach and Antonin Dvorak.

Rachlevsky’s group, composed of young Russian musicians mostly from Moscow, consists of nine violins, four violas and three cellos.

While most audience members sat at the front of the theater, Charleston resident Camille Compo decided to sit in the back.

“I like this music,” said Compo, who has attended Eastern concerts for 40 years. “It is especially rare to see it live,”

Compo said she was very impressed by the young musicians and the conductor who work so hard.

Robert Lewis, a finance major, noticed the musicians’ focus as they played. Their movement was synchronized in time to the music.

“They were very lively you could see their bodies move when they were playing certain parts,” Lewis said.

Rachlevsky signed autographs after the concert.

“I judge reception not by applause, but by they way people listen,” he said. “People here listened well.”

Rachlevsky said the Kremlin is more personal than a large orchestra, noting he works with the musicians all the time.

Audience members, like Nicholas Lewis, a history major, agreed.

“They’re great, very intense,” he said.

In between pieces, Rachlevsky addressed the acoustics of Dvorak, which he continued to praise after the performance.

“I want you to know how wonderful this is – the beautiful sound in this hall, you are so lucky, I think you know how lucky your are,” he said.

The orchestra will finish its Midwest tour before heading back to New York and then Russia.

The Kermlin’s music has already been heard in Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and Michigan.

Rachlevsky founded the New American Chamber Orchestra in 1984.

James Roedl can be reached at 581-7942 or

DENnewskdesk@gmail.com.