Courtesy of the Washington Balalaika Society Like balalaikas? The Washington Balalaika Society will perform in Rockville this Friday. |
Dr. Zhivago played it, Anton Chekhov wrote about it, Paul McCartney sang about it – and on Friday, the Russian string instrument known as the balalaika rocks Rockville in a big way.
That's because it's the 20th anniversary of the Washington Balalaika Society (WBS), a group of 50 musicians with a passion for the guitar-like Russian folk instrument.
Leonard was born in the Bronx; his grandparents were from Russia and Ukraine, and maybe that's why the sound of the balalaikas affected him so profoundly when he heard it as a thirtysomething.
"It just tugged at my heartstrings," he remembers. "It was something I wanted to do."
What he was doing at the time was working for NASA in Houston. When he moved to NASA headquarters, he was surprised no large organization for balalaika lovers in the nation's capital existed. So he formed a musical group with seven people who had a similar passion for the balalaika.
"You can play it alone, or in a small ensemble, or in a 60-piece orchestra," Leonard says. "The music is strong, it's emotional. It has a rich tapestry.
"It's something I identify with."
WBS members play a variety of Russian instruments: guitar, domra, bayan and balalaika. Before its elevation to the orchestral stage, the balalaika — a triangular three-stringed instrument that goes back to 17th century Russia — was for peasants. It was frequently banned in the days of the tsar, with wandering minstrels using it to accompany their anti-establishment songs, and fell out of favor during the communist era.
"We've been given credit by people in Russia for keeping this music alive," boasts Max McCullough, who co-founded the WBS with Leonard. "I think we're remarkably fortunate to be living at the time we are. In the old days, when we started back in '88, the Soviet Union was still the Soviet Union. It was virtually impossible to get [balalaika] music."
Glasnost and perestroika helped, and the Internet has been a boon, but McCullough says the biggest push forward for the society came when they hired conductor Svetlana Nikonova as artistic director.
"She is a real professional with the very highest level of education. She understands the music and how to arrange it," McCullough says.
In addition to Nikonova and the 50-piece folk orchestra, Friday's concert will feature guest soloists Volodymyr and Natalya Marunych from Kiev, Ukraine, as well as balalaika virtuoso Andre Saveliev, who appears frequently with the WBS. It's part of the 20th anniversary season — "a big deal," as Leonard says, for everyone involved. Concerts and a gala are planned. Yet above all the celebration is the haunting sound of the balalaika itself.
"It's romantic and emotional," says McCullough. "It mirrors the Russian character. It's rooted in the folk music and dance of a people who have suffered enormously. You can hear that.
"It's exciting music."
The Washington Balalaika Society performs at 8 p.m. Friday in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville. Admission is $20,$18 for seniors, and children, 12 and younger, are admitted free with a paying adult. Call 703-549-2010 or visit www.balalaika.org.
