Pevchii Diak

(singing deacon), a singer at the court of the Russian tsars or in the church choir of the patriarch, a metropolitan, or other members of the hierarchy. The most famous of the church choirs were in Moscow: the Gosudarevy Pevchie D’iaki (the Tsar’s Singing Deacons) and the Patriarshie Pevchie D’iaki i Podd’iaki (the Patriarch’s Singing Deacons and Assistant Deacons). The tsar’s choir, whose members were laymen, was transformed by Peter I into a court choir and transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg. After the abolition of the patriarchate in 1721, the patriarch’s choir was renamed the Khor Sinodal’nykh Pevchikh (Synod Choir).