Section: CAPITAL REGION
Page: F3

Wednesday, April 21, 1999

RUSSIANS ENTERTAIN STUDENTS

 

Saratoga Springs Musicians from Tula demonstrate their unique instruments

 

KATHLEEN DOOLEY Staff writer

Yasnaya Polyana Balalaika Ensemble from Tula, Russia, entertained local students Friday during the group's third visit to schools in the Capital Region, Vermont and New York City.

After entertaining at Division Stret School and Schuylerville Elementary, Lake Avenue Elementary School's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders greeted the musicians with questions.

Visiting under the sponsorship of the Albany-Tula Alliance, the ensemble is part of a large resident sinfonetta in Tula.

Each member of the ensemble plays several instruments and demonstrates their talents for the students. The popular music group played with the Albany Symphony Orchestra in 1995 and presented a world premiere performance by a contemporary Russian composer.

The group has presented concerts in Germany, Poland, Russia and the U.S.

During visits to the Capital Region, the ensemble has played for more than 10,000 school children, said Laura Chodos, a member of the Albany-Tula, Russia Arts and Cultural Committee, one of the organizers for the year's visit.

The ensemble consists of Victor Sinkovsky, conductor, a professor of music and frequent soloist on the alto domra, a long-necked-type flute; Zinaida Vartminskaya, who plays a six-string guitar called the chitarra; Sergei Saksin, who performs on the bayan, similar to an accordion; and Sergei Kozov, who plays the balalaika, a popular Russian instrument with either a triangular or rounded body, usually with three strings.

``Kozkov's fingers fly so fast on the balalaika at times that one cannot see the individual fingers,'' said Chodos.