   
Sergey Vashchenko - Balalaika virtuoso from Austin, Texas
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Ukrainian born Sergey Vashchenko began his musical training as a child on the bayan and balalaika.
He was chosen to study at several prominent musical schools in his native country, and received
several awards in musical competitions. He earned a Master’s Degree in Music from the Ural
Conservatory in 1985, in performance and conducting, and then served as Musical Instructor and
Dean for Balalaika at the Perm Cultural Institute for Arts.
Mr. Vashchenko toured with several groups, including “Lira” and “Bubliky” throughout Europe.
He now resides in North American and tours with the group “Kalinka”.
Mr. Vashchenko released his debut recording, “Concerto for Balalaika with Symphony Orchestra”,
by R. Makarenko at the Perm Radio Station in Russia in 1988. He has produced several CDs
together and with the collaboration of other artists. Their latest CD, entitled “Somewhere
My Love”, is currently in the running for a Grammy Award 2004 under the “Best Traditional
World Music Album” category.
With over 200 performances in the last year alone, his formal training and affinity for popular music have made him a
sought-after performer in every venue from folk to classical. Mr. Vashchenko has also been the conductor and musical
director for shows at Rice University of Houston, from 1998 to 2003, for the orchestra affiliated with the Balalaika-Domra
Association of America. Mr. Vashchenko works as a soloist, who plays a variety of folk, classical and contemporary music.
He also collaborates with symphonies and chamber groups and is a conductor and musical arranger.
Sergey Vashchenko - Jimi Hendrix of Russian Balalaika will play for weddings, schools, private funcion, local clubs,
concerts with Symphony orchestras, different chambers and groups.
RECORDINGS
Somewhere My Love: Russian Gems, CD, 2003, Seduction Records
Romantic Journey, CD, 2003, Ruben Ayala Studio
Kalinka Presents Bubliki, CD, 1999, Luis Martinez, JP.Kitchen Studio
MUSIC SAMPLES
Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 571KB WMA file
Russian folk song "Korobeyniky" MP3 564KB
"Somewhere My Love..." from soundtrack of "Dr. Zhivago" 1MB MP3 file
Carmen 345KB MP3 file
Finale of Concerto for Balalaika with Orchestra by V. Marunich 3.3MB WMA file
VIDEO SAMPLES
Flight of the Bumblebee 4MB MPEG file
Performances with Symphony Orchestras
October 2003
Allen Symphony Orchestra, Allen TX
“Shunned for Love”, A. Shalov
“Hungarian Rhapsody No.2”, F. Liszt
“Fly of the Bumblebee”, N.R-Korsakov
July 2002
Orchestra of Balalaika and Domra Association
of America, Houston TX
“Sunned for Love”, A. Shalov
January 2002
Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Irving TX
“Concerto for Balalaika with Orchestra”, V. Marunich
January 2002
Garland Symphony Orchestra, Garland TX
“Concerto for Balalaika with Orchestra”, V. Marunich
New Arlington Symphony Orchestra, Arlington TX
“Concerto for Balalaika with Orchestra”, V. Marunich
February 2002
Irving Symphony Orchestra, Irving TX
“Kalinka” (duo), V. Gorodovskaya
May 1999
The Northeast Orchestra, Fort Worth TX
“Variations on a Theme from the Bizet’s Opera, ‘Carmen’”, P. Sarasate
“Spanish Dance”, M. de Falla
June 1994
Spanish Band “Pescador”, Pontevedra, Spain
“Fly of the Bumblebee”, N.R-Korsakov
“Kalinka”, V. Gorodovskaya
October 1989
Latvian Military Symphony Orchestra, Riga, Latvia
“Kalinka”, V. Gorodovskaya
June 1987
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra of the Perm
Cultural Institute, Perm, Russia
“Spanish Dance”, M. deFalla
“Troika”, N. Boudashkin
“Concerto”, V. Vekker
June 1984
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra of the Ural
Conservatory, Sverdlovsk, Russia
“Ring of the Sweet Girl”, A. Shalov
“Concerto”, Y. Shishakov
June 1980
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra of the Musical
College of Ukraine, Poltava, Ukraine
“Concerto for Balalaika with Orchestra”, Z. Feldman
“Troika”, N. Boudashkin
Sergey Vashchenko RESUME
Education: Kremenchug Music School, Ukraine
Performance Certificate in Accordion (Bayan) and Balalaika, 1970-76
Lysenko State Music College, Poltava, Ukraine
Bachelors Degree in Music and Conducting
Teacher of Conducting and Teacher of Balalaika
School of Prof. Nikolai Zhernovoi, 1976-80
Musorgsky Ural State Concervatory
Sverdlovsk (Ekatherinburg), Russia
Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting and Teaching
Masters Degree in Balalaika Performance
School of Prof. Eugeniy Blinov
Masters thesis:
“Felix Mendelsohn as a Founder of the Symphonic Overture Genre”
Concert Performer and Conductor of Orchestra, 1980-85
Teaching
Music School, Lysenko State Music College, Poltava, Ukaraine, Teacher of Balalaika,
1978-80
Music School, Sverdlovsk, Russia, Teacher of Balalaika, 1980-85
Perm State Institute of Culture, Russia, Teacher of Balalaika, Instrumentation
Conducting, Dean of Faculty of Arts, 1985-88
State Music College, Perm, Russia, Orchestral Conducting and Balalaika Teacher, 1985-88
Perm School District, Perm, Russia, Lecturer in Music, part time, 1985-88
Department of Cultural Affairs, Perm, Russia, Lecturer in Music, part time, 1985-88
Music School, Riga, Latvia, Teacher of Music, 1988-93
Private Conservatoty of Music and Dance “Mayeusis”, Vigo, Spain, 1993-95
Private Lessons in music, tutor and instructor, Dallas, Texas, 1995-2003
Private Lessons in music, tutor and instructor, Austin, Texas, 2003 – current
Concert Activities
Special Educationals Concerts for Teachers of Music School and Colleges
Poltava Region, Ukraine, 1975-76
Concerts with Group “Balalaika”, Poltava Region, Poland, Germany, 1976-80
Concerts with Group “ Polichkin”- proftech. education, Russia, France, 1980-85
Concerts with Group “Ural”, Sverdlovsk, Russia, 1980-85
Concerts with Students Orchestra like a soloist, 1980-85
Concerts with Group “Uralsky Khorovod”, Russia, Czechoslovakia, 1986-89
Group “Lira”, founder, musical director, soloist, Latvia, Russia, Spain, 1989-93
Concerts with Group “Bubliky”, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Spain 1990-93
Concerts with Group “Kalinka”, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, USA, 1990-current
Concerts with Group “Trio Brio”, Texas, USA, 1997-98
Concerts with Group “Cafe Noir”, Texas, USA, 1998-2001
Special Concerts
Performance in Celebration of Russian-German Friendship, West Germany, 1977
Concert Tour at Olympic Games in Moscow, 1980
Concert Tour in France, 1985
Concert Tour in Czech Republic, 1986
Concert Tour in Dallas, Riga-Dallas Sister Cities Celebration, 1990
Concert Tour in Barcelona and Costa Brava, 1995
Performance in Celebration of WRR Classical 101.1, 1997-99
Performances for Van Clibern Association, 1998
Performance for Jay Leno in Dallas, 1999
Educational Concerts for “Young Audiences” of Dallas, Texas, 1999-current
Educational Concerts for Texas Commissoner of the Art and Neighborhood Touring
Program of Dallas, Texas, 1997-current
Educational Concerts for SMU, 1999
Educational Concerts for University of Texas in Dallas and Austin, 2000-01
Educational Concerts for Layola University, New Orleans, LU, 2002
Kalinka Concert Series, 2003-current
Performances with Orchestras as Soloist
Allen Philharmonic, Allen, TX, Oct. 2003
Orchestra of Balalaika and Domra Association of America, New Orleans, LU, 2002
Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Irving, TX, 2002
Garland Symphony Orchestra, Garland, TX, Jan. 2002
New Arlington Symphony Orchestra, Arlington, TX, Jan. 2002
Irving Symphony Orchestra, Irving, TX, Feb. 2002
Plano Symphony Orchestra, Plano, TX, Sept. 2002
Orchestra of Balalaika and Domra Association, Houston, TX, July 2001
Northeast Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth, May, 1999
Band “Pescador”, Pontevedra, Spain, June 1994
Latvian Military Symphony Orchestra, Riga, Latvia, Oct. 1989
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra of the Perm Cultural Institute, Perm, Russia, 1986
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra of the Ural Conservatory, Sverdlovsk, Russia, 1984
Balalaika and Domra Orchestra, Musical College of Ukraine, Poltava, Ukraine,1980
Performances with Orchestras as Conductor
Students Orchestra, Poltava, Ukraine, 1979-80
Students Orchestra of Polytechnic Institute, Sverdlovsk, Russia, 1982-85
Orchestra of Ural State Conservatory, Sverdlovsk, Russia, 1981-85
Houston Balalaika and Domra Association, Houston, USA, 1998-current
Radio and TV Recording
Radio recording for different broadcast stations: Sverdlovsk Radio (Russia), Perm
Radio (Russia), Poltava Radio (Ukraine), Riga Radio (Latvia), Radio-SER (Spain),
WRR Classical 101.1 (USA).
TV Performances for different stations in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Spain, USA
International Festivals and Awards
Polish Festival of Music and Dance, Melno, Warsaw, Poland, 1977-79
“Harmony-93” Limburg, Germany, 1993 – Laureate of Competition
“Gaita Grilleira” in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1994
Music Festival in Segovia, Spain, 1994
Folk Festival in Villadolid, Spain, 1994
Contender for American Grammy Award, USA, 2004
Concert Manager/Director/Producer
Concert Tour “Lira”- Classical Quartet, Musical Director, Latvia, Spain, 1989-90
Concert Tour “Bubliky”- Folk Show, Musical Director, Latvia, Spain, 1989-91
Concert Tour “Cantilena”- Violin Ensemble, Manager, Latvia, Spain, USA, 1989-90
Concert Tour “Dallas Unlimited Band”- Jazz-Rock Band, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, 1991
Producer of Kalinka Concert Series, 2003
Speak 4 languages: English, Spanish, Russian, and Ukranian
Balalaika Player, Concert Performer, Recording Musician, Music Editor, Arranger,
Instrumentation and Computer Reorganizer notation for any composition into a masterpiece
Setting Adjustments for Music Score Publication.
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RELATED LINKS
Balalaika Balalayka Áàëàëàéêà
Russian folk music free MP3 download
Free Russian Balalaika Ringtones
Free Russian sheet music
Russian costumes
Russian lyrics, Russian songs translations into English
Russian folk
Russian music
DOMRA
History of Russian balalaika
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Balalaika handmade in Moscow, Russia
Contrabass Balalaika and Bass Balalaika
Balalaika Contrabass Buying Guide
Christmas Diary of the balalaika player
Russian American Wedding or balalaika scam
Russian music album "What a Balalaika!" by Nikita Siniy
Barynya Russian Entertainment database
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New York balalaika orchestra
Russian Band from New York
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Balalaika Dance Trio, Philadelphia, PA
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The Balalaika Russe
Russian music duo from Chicago, Illinois
Balalaika Stooges
Kalinka Duo: balalaika and bayan from Austin, TX
Alex Siniavski - Balalaika virtuoso from Philadelphia, PA
Lev Zabeginsky - New York balalaika virtuoso
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Balalaika tutorial DVD by Alex Siniavski
Balalaika Virtuoso Bibs Ekkel
Russian Christmas Music Balalaika Album
Balalaika music album "Barynya Russian folk songs"
The Balalaika and Domra Association of America
BDAA 2007 Festival of Russian Music
The Balalaika and Domra Association of America 2006 photos
BDAA 2005 conference in Madison, Wisconsin video
BDAA 2005 conference in Madison, Wisconsin photos
School of playing balalaika contrabass (in Russian)
Aleksandr Nikitich Rozhkov (in Russian)
How to play tremolo on balalaika (in Russian)
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Barynya - Russian folk music and dance ensemble from New York established in 1991. Russian, Tsygansky (Russian Gypsy Roma), Cossack, Ukrainian traditional dances, songs, virtuoso performances on musical instruments (balalaika, garmoshka, bayan, domra, balalaika-contrabass) with explanation of the program in English. Artistic Director Mikhail Smirnov.
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RUSSIAN BAND specialty is Gypsy, Ukrainian, Russian music and songs. All RUSSIAN BAND members are top professionals with many years of experience. Choice of Gypsy, Ukrainian, Russian (2 different sets) and Cossack costumes. Extended repertoire. Formal concert, background music or music for dancing party. Our main instruments are balalaika, domra, drums, garmoshka (Russian button accordion), Gypsy guitar, classic guitar, contrabass balalaika, cello and vocals. Travel with own pro-quality sound system.
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