The Decembrists (In Memory of the Alexandrov Ensemble, AKA the Red Army Choir)

The Alexandrov Ensemble (Russian: Ансамбль Александрова, tr. Ansambl Aleksandrova; commonly known as the Red Army Choir[1] in Western Europe) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the ensemble consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble.

. . .

On 25 December 2016, its artistic director, Valery Khalilov, and 63 other members of the Ensemble were killed in the Russian Defence Ministry aircraft crash of a 1983 Tupolev Tu-154 into the Black Sea just after takeoff from the southern resort city of Sochi, Russia.[1][3] The Red Army Choir singers and dancers were en route to Syria to entertain Russian troops there for Orthodox Christmas celebrations.[4]