The Male Choir of the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute (MEPhI) was found in October 1956 by two talented musicians and charming ladies, Esther Ryvkina and Raisa Barskaya. Since that time it is a firm tradition for the choir to be guided and conducted by the female professionals only.

In 1965 the choir was honored with a title of the People's Artistic Group. Hard work and high professional scills of choirmasters resulted in numerous awards of All-Union choral contests and festivals. In 1977 the choir got the Lenin Prize of the Youth League COMSOMOL, the highest award for the youth artistic groups.

In 1987 Nadezhda Malyavina - a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory -took over the choir's guidance. Being successfull in following the best of Russian choral music tradition, she managed - together with choirmasters Frida Starobinets, Lia Obshadko and Irina Timokhina - to put the choir to a new level of performing art.Twice, in 1989 and 1991,the choir became a laureate of the International Contest "Rigas Gailis"(Riga, Latvia).The year of 1993 brought the Grand PrixoftheSth International Choir Festival on Malta. Further, at the International contest in Tours (France) - one of most prestigious European vocal contests - the choir was the best in the Equal Voices category. Three concert tours in Germany (1992, 1994, 1996), the concerts in France (1994) and Great Britain (1995) extended choir's international publicity. The MEPhI choir has an amateur status - all of its members are either students or graduates of the MEPhI. Despite this the choir is often invited to take part in professional events. During last five years the choir has performed solo concerts in the Great, Minor and Rachmaninov's Halls of Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, participated in several concerts of the Tchaikovsky Large Symphonic Orchestra conducted byV.Fedoseev.

The repertoire of the MEPhI choir includes music of various ages and styles, which covers Western and Russian classical music, contemporary pieces and arranged folk songs. The choir made several records on audio cassettes, CD's and video.