October 15th
Russian folk music wows students at GUS
At the assembly on Wednesday, October 14th, GUS students were privileged to hear a rare performance of Russian folk music by Oleg Kruglyakov, a balalaika virtuoso from Siberia, and Terry Boyarsky, a classically trained pianist from Cleveland. Under the name of Russian Duo, these two outstanding musicians have teamed up for exuberant performances of soulful, passionate music. Their collaboration highlights the mysterious sounds of the balalaika underscored by the vast expressive range of the piano. Their extensive repertoire draws on Russian folk music, romances, dances, classical music, gypsy melodies, and Russian songs meticulously translated into English. The GUS audience’s favorite song was “Kalinka”, which by coincidence had been learned by last year’s fourth grade class.
Here are some reactions to the performance from fifth graders:
“I thought his wrist would break – it moved so fast!”
“I like how they included the kids, not just played.”
“I liked them so much that I went to their website and read all about them! And then I looked for their music on iTunes and found some!”
“I liked how he spoke in Russian.”
“It was cool how he turned his instrument around and it played itself.” (The student did understand the trick.)
“I liked their outfits.”
“I loved the way she played the piano. I love that Rachmaninov piece – I’ve heard it before.”
“They were really good – it seemed they had practiced a lot!”
“I thought they really enjoyed playing.” (Then an entire discussion ensued about how it was clear that they LOVED what they were doing and weren’t just “in it for the money”)
“I liked the balalaika!”
