Comrades of Dustyesky, we salute you!

An Aussie choir singing Russian folk songs? It’s an idea born of a night on the vodka - but look how far Dustyesky has come.

Two Aussie blokes walk into a party, have a few drinks… and decide to form a Russian choir. It sounds like a ludicrous, short-lived notion born of a night on the vodka. But seven years later the 28-man choir Dustyesky from northern NSW is performing sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House and festivals around the country, appearing on Russian television, scoring invites from the Russian Government to sing for President Putin and 250,000 guests in Moscow’s Red Square at the Grand Victory Parade last May – before Covid put paid to the visit.

It’s a rollicking story, but what is the secret to this most unlikely choir? “It’s the Russian songs,’’ one member tells journalist Matthew Condon. “They’re built for men to sing.”