New York, USA - The Russian Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble will be the special guests at Paul Winter's 24th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration in New York City's Cathedral of St John the Divine, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, on 18, 19 and 20 December 2003.

Founded in 1973 in Moscow by Dmitri Pokrovsky (1944-1996), the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble performs a wide variety of music, including songs of different traditions and styles of the Russian countryside, spiritual music, and works by classical composers such as Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Shchedrin and Shnitke.

Paul Winter and the Consort met the Pokrovsky Ensemble in 1986, at the end of the Consort's first tour of the Soviet Union. The magic of that first concert planted the seeds for the 2 groups to come together again in 1987 to create the Grammy-nominated album EARTHBEAT and in 1988 for a 25-city tour of the United States.

A milestone recording, Earthbeat was described by Pete Seeger as a "ground-breaking album" in which Winter may have "set a new path - of juxtaposing and superimposing different idioms". Dave Brubeck said of the Earthbeat album: "Paul's fusion of this 1,000-year old Russian ethnic choral tradition with the personal style of his group is a forceful statement of his belief in the oneness of our earth song".

After many performances together in the USA, Russia and Asia, the Paul Winter Consort and the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble continue to break new ground. In 2003 they have delighted audiences in Russia, Spain and Israel. In December 2003 they will come together once more at Paul Winter's celebrated annual Winter Solstice Celebration, a world music, theatrical and environmental concert which has become one of the best-attended holiday events in New York City.

Tickets for this, Winter's 24th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration, are on sale online via http://www.livingmusic.com/solstice/wintersolstice.html#tickets, by phone from CityTix® at 212-581-1212 (1-877-581-1212 from outside metropolitan New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut); in person at the Cathedral Box Office, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street. For group, student and senior discounts, contact the Cathedral Box Office (212 6622133).