<P> The Imperial Choral Capella was founded and modeled after the royal courts of other European capitals . </P> <P> Saint Petersburg has been home to the newest movements in popular music in the country . The first jazz band in the Soviet Union was founded here by Leonid Utyosov in the 1920s, under the patronage of Isaak Dunayevsky . The first jazz club in the Soviet Union was founded here in the 1950s and was later named jazz club Kvadrat . In 1956 the popular ensemble Druzhba was founded by Aleksandr Bronevitsky and Edita Piekha to become the first popular band in the USSR during the 1950s . In the 1960s student rock - groups Argonavty, Kochevniki and others pioneered a series of unofficial and underground rock concerts and festivals . In 1972 Boris Grebenshchikov founded the band Aquarium, which later grew to huge popularity . Since then "Peter's rock" music style was formed . </P> <P> In the 1970s many bands came out from the "underground" scene and eventually founded the Leningrad Rock Club, which provided a stage to bands such as DDT, Kino, headed by Viktor Tsoi, Alisa, Zemlyane, Zoopark, Piknik, Secret, and many other popular bands . The first Russian - style happening show Pop Mekhanika, mixing over 300 people and animals on stage, was directed by the multi-talented Sergey Kuryokhin in the 1980s . The annual International Music Festival SKIF (Sergey Kuriokhin International Festival) is named after him . In 2004 the Kuryokhin Center was founded, were the SKIF as well as the Electro - Mechanica and Ethnomechanica festivals take place . SKIF focuses on experimental pop music and avant garde music, Electro - Mechanica on electronic music, and Ethnomechanica on world music . </P> <P> Today's Saint Petersburg boasts many notable musicians of various genres, from popular Leningrad's Sergei Shnurov, Tequilajazzz, Splean, and Korol i Shut, to rock veterans Yuri Shevchuk, Vyacheslav Butusov, and Mikhail Boyarsky . In the early 2000s the city saw a wave of popularity of metalcore, rapcore, and emocore, and there are bands such as Amatory, Kirpichi, Psychea, Stigmata, Grenouer and Animal Jazz . </P>

Which modern russian city was earlier known as petrograd and leningrad