In May-June 2001 in the Polish town of Hajnowka the International Festival of Ecclesiastical Music was held. The performance by the male choir Svetilen from Holy Don Starocherkassk Monastery was a great event that attracted everybody's attention. The press was full of wonderful headlines. "Revolution from Rostov" was one of them. Those interviewed were unanimous in their opinion - an impressive performance. Here are but a few of the statements.

Jan Lukashevich, the conductor of the chorus from Gdansk said,

"I was greatly impressed by the choir from Rostov - high class singing, pure voices, smooth sound. And what is especially valuable at this festival - the singing was inspired".

Bozhena Savitska, professor of the Music Academy and conductor of the academic chorus said,

"The sensational impression made by the choir "Svetilen" showed all the best qualities of male voices. All the pieces were sung with great musical awareness. There was wonderful interplay of voices and this was a fine example of beautiful ensemble singing".

Professor Romuald Tvardovski, chairman of the jury said,

"The performance by the choir from Rostov-on-Don has been imprinted on my memory. I have never heard such harmonious performance before. How did they achieve that?"

It should be added that it was the 20th anniversary of the Festival so prize-winners from the previous chorus festivals were invited, which underlines the high level of performance at the Festival. The winner of the top award at the event - claiming the best-of-the best trophy - was the choir Svetilen which won First Prize among Professional Chamber Choruses. Other competitions at the Festival involved amateur, university, and parish choirs.

This was not the first time Svetilen won First Prize at the Festival. They also came in first at the 18th Festival in Hajnowka in 1999.