ClevelandClassical.com Header
Ad
Ad

Russian Duo plays ragtime at Nighttown

by

by Mike Telin

“I wrote my Free Spirit Rag around 1985,” composer and pianist Brian Dykstra said during a telephone conversation. “I guess Terry Boyarsky heard a recording of it on WCLV, and got the idea of arranging it for balalaika and piano. You can imagine my surprise when I heard this back in the fall of 2017.”

On Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 pm at Nighttown, Russian Duo (Oleg Kruglyakov, balalaika and vocals, and Terry Boyarsky, piano) will present a program that includes the Duo’s arrangement of Dykstra’s Free Spirit Rag, as well as variations on Russian folk melodies, classical music, and Soviet compositions. Prior to the performance there will be a screening of director Chris Bohan’s and cinematographer Steve Hacker’s short film You Go First, which features music performed by Russian Duo. Tickets are available online.

Dykstra did send the music to Boyarsky and Kruglyakov, and gave them permission to make the arrangement. “Some months later Terry invited me to her house for dinner,” Dykstra said. “

[Read more…]

Russian Duo to appear on John Knox Performance Series

by

by Mike Telin

Russian-Duo“Russian Duo is an international project, and this program will show that,” balalaika virtuoso Oleg Kruglyakov said during a recent telephone conversation along with his longtime artistic partner, pianist Terry Boyarsky. On Friday, April 28 at 7:00 pm at John Knox Presbyterian Church in North Olmsted, Russian Duo will present a concert that features Russian folk music, romances, classical music, gypsy melodies, bluegrass, ragtime, tango, film scores, and Soviet songs. The free concert is part of the John Knox Performance Series.

“In this program audiences will hear everything from Handel to tango. It also shows the range and versatility of this school of Russian composers. As always, we’ll tell stories about the music so the audience can feel a part of the history and musical journey.” [Read more…]

Russian Duo to celebrate new CD release, Interplay, at Nighttown on June 7

by

by Mike Telin

INTERPLAY-CDOn Russian Duo’s latest CD, Interplay, pianist Terry Boyarsky and balalaika virtuoso Oleg Kruglyakov present a thirteen-track feast of music that beautifully marries traditional folk-tunes with classical elegance. On Sunday, June 7 at 7:00 pm, audiences can hear the music from the album performed live when Russian Duo hosts a CD release party at Nighttown.

“At the beginning we saw ourselves as being strictly classical,” Boyarsky and Kruglyakov agreed during our recent Skype conversation. “But now we’re incorporating musical styles like tango, bluegrass and even some movie scores into our performances.” The album’s title, Interplay, is juxtaposed with the Russian word for interaction, взаимодействие, and is subtitled “traditional tunes / classical elegance.” [Read more…]

Preview: Russian Duo kicks off Music by Nature series in Cuyahoga Valley National Park on June 9

by

by Mike Telin

Russian-DuoOn Sunday, June 9 beginning at 6:30 pm at the Happy Days Lodge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Music By Nature presents Russian Duo, Oleg Kruglyakov, balalaika & Terry Boyarsky, piano in a concert featuring Russian, classical, Soviet & folk music. As always, Music By Nature audiences are invited to picnic on the grounds beginning at 5 pm, and a dessert reception follows the performance.

Although the combination of balalaika and piano may seem a bit unusual, Terry Boyarsky and Oleg Kruglyakov think the variety of musical styles that are included in their nature-inspired program highlight the range of possibilities the combination of instruments are capable of producing. “I think the idea is that we are taking music from different parts of the planet and blending them [together] with these instruments and it does sound like nature re-united, like the United Nations,” says Kruglyakov. [Read more…]

Follow ClevelandClassical.com

Contact us