Musicology Annotation << Back On the role of church singing in the missionary educational institutions of the Middle Volga region (second half of the XIX beginning of the XX century) Aysylu T. Gumerova The second half of the XIX – beginning of the XX century – a period that played a special role in the history of non-Russian peoples of the Middle Volga region. This period is characterized by reformation of the missionary and educational activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, the ideologist and the proponent of which was N.I. Ilminsky (1822–1891). The most important line of his work was the opening of missionary village schools for non-Russians, aka inorodtsy: Tatars, Chuvashs, Maris, and Udmurts, whose training was structured according to a completely new system. Church singing occupied a special place in the school program. It was conceived by Ilminsky as the most important "tool" of Christian enlightenment. In this article, based on the study and analysis of archival, documentary sources, pre-revolutionary missionary printed materials, periodicals of the second half of the XIX beginning of the XX century, the author examines the musical aspect of the Ilminsky pedagogical system and its role in the process of Christianization of the population of the Middle Volga region. As an example, the author studies the organization of the educational process in institutions such as the Central Baptized Tatar School, the Kazan Teacher's Seminary, the Simbirsk Chuvash School. Revealed are the prerequisites for the emergence and formation of traditions of Orthodox singing in national languages in the region. Keywords: church singing, inorodtsy, missionary work, Middle Volga region, Ilminsky N.I., Smolensky S.V. Contacts: E-mail: gumerovaat@mail.ru Pp. 28-35.