Russian Folk Orchestra to perform

A concert of Russian and East European folk music will be presented by the university Russian Folk Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 4.

The concert will be held in Music Hall. Admission: $5 general public, $4 students and senior citizens, with tickets available at the door.

The orchestra will be joined by the Luther College Balalaika Ensemble from Decorah, Iowa, and the Narodno! International Dancers from Madison. Vocal soloists will be soprano Christine Buckstead and bass-baritone Lennart Bäckström.

The 17-member Russian Folk Orchestra was founded at UW–Madison in 1997, with support from the university’s Center for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Led by music director Victor Gorodinsky, it includes two groups of authentic Russian stringed instruments: domras and balalaikas. The orchestra also uses two accordions, flute, oboe and various percussion instruments.

Gorodinsky is a Slavic librarian at Memorial Library. He immigrated from Russia in 1982 and for several years was music director of the Russian Folk Orchestra at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.