Works by prominent 19th and 20th century Russian and Eastern European composers, who include Ravel, Prokofiev, Achron, Bloch, Weiner, Milner and Shostakovich, are brought to life again in the performances of the Nigun Chamber Ensemble. On Sunday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. at New England Conservatory's Williams Hall, Nigun will showcase Jewish folk songs in Yiddish and Hebrew, in a moving and memorable blend of chamber and cantorial music.

The award-winning group, performing under the artistic direction of Yelena Neplok, is dedicated to preserving the traditions of pre-war East European Jewish musicians and their communities, which included klezmer, chamber, art song and liturgical music. The concert program, according to Neplok, will include a variety of genres and forms. "The Jewish folk songs will be performed in Hebrew and Yiddish, set to contemporary arrangements for quartet and two singers, popular Jewish traditional instrumental music, as well as classical chamber music," she said. The repertoire will include selections by F. Mendelssohn ("Andante" from "Trio" in D minor, op. 62, for piano, violin and cello) and M. Ravel, as well as a masterpiece by E. Bloch, “Nigun,” and an improvisation from Baal Shem, "Three Pictures of Chassidic Life", for violin and piano. The program will also include liturgical music, and art songs by L.Weiner and varied Russian Jewish composers.

Neplok, an internationally renowned pianist who earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Piano Performance and Teaching at the Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music and St. Petersburg Conservatory, founded the ensemble in St. Petersburg in 1991. The group featured on national radio and television, performed in numerous Russian and international music festivals and in renowned music halls such as the Oktoberski Grand Concert Hall, St. Petersburg Municipal Cultural Center, Glinka Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Yusuppov Palace Theater, and the Malakhite Hall of the Russian Institute of the History of Arts.

Neplok reorganized the ensemble in Boston in 1997, when it premiered at Jordan Hall in the festival “Jewish Music: Renaissance and Remembrance.” Other venues have included the Conservatory's Seully Hall, Boston University’s Morse Auditorium, Congregation Kehillath Israel and Temple Ohabei Shalom. The group has performed two concert series for the Boston Conservatory, and for CJP-sponsored programs at the Russian Jewish Community School at Temple B'nai Moshe and the Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly in Brighton. They have also performed at Temple Israel in their annual festival “Artistic Hanukkah” and to benefit Action for Post-Soviet Jewry’s Adopt-a-Bubbe program, as well as at Jordan Hall, the Russian-American Festival at Brookline High School, Brandeis University and Hebrew College’s Concert Series.

Neplok has been a soloist with the Jewish Chamber Orchestra of Boston, was the featured performer in New England Conservatory's Jewish Music Festival, and has performed solo on national and local radio and television. A former faculty member at the Boston Conservatory, she is a faculty member at the N.E. Conservatory’s School of Continuing Education, teaching "Eastern European Jewish Musical Traditions" and "The Art of Russian Piano Music." She teaches piano in her private studio in Brookline and is Artist-in-Residence at Hebrew College.

The current ensemble features David Kravitz, a baritone who has premiered many contemporary works around the world. Kravitz joined Nigun in 2000, and is on the roster of New York City Opera. He has performed at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Lake George Opera Festival, and the Granite State Opera, and also locally with the Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston. Kravitz has appeared at Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall under conductors Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, Grant Llewellyn, Martin Pearlman and others.

Soprano Marina Shemesh holds degrees from the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the Tel Aviv Academy of Music, as well as a Master of Sacred Music from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Before beginning a cantorial career, Shemesh, a Russian native, performed in opera houses in Europe and North America, and participated in the Conference of Jewish Music in Russia and the International Conference of Jewish Music at Lincoln Center in New York. She is a cantor at Congregation Beth Israel in Worcester.

Violinist Sargis Karapetyan, who holds a Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from the Komitas State Conservatory in Yerevan, Armenia, is a lecturer at Clark University, and has been the Director of Pedagogy Courses and a lecturer at the String Instrument Department at the N. E. Conservatory. Mark Margolies, who plays clarinet, is on the faculty of the Boston College and Brookline Music School. He joined Nigun in 1998 and continues to play clarinet with many New England orchestras. .

Nigun is rounded out by cellist Cynthia Forbes, who attended Harvard University and Syracuse University under a Graduate Fellowship in Music. She performs throughout New England, most recently with Boston Virtuosi, the Greensboro Summer Festival Orchestra and the New England String Ensemble.

“The Nigun programs, which feature a wide variety of rarely-heard works of great musical and historical interest, serve both educational and cultural goals,” said Neplok, who moved to the U.S. in 1994. “They promote interest and awareness of Jewish musical heritage, and enrich the musical environment of the entire Jewish and Russian-American community.”

The concert is presented by the New England Conservatory Office of Community Collaborations and supported in part by the Ratchesky Foundation. Admission is $15, $10 for seniors and students. Williams Hall is in the same building at Jordan Hall at 30 Gainsborough St., Boston (Williams entrance is at 290 Huntington Ave.). Tickets are available at the box office, or at Russian Village, 1659 Beacon St. Brookline, (617) 975-3454, Bookstore Petropal, 1428 Beacon St. Brookline, (617) 232-8820, and at the door. Information: (617) 585-1136.