Russian Duo to open Ironton arts program
Oct. 2—IRONTON — The Cleveland area-based and internationally acclaimed Russian Duo will perform the inaugural concert of the Ironton Council for the Arts 2023-24 subscription concert series at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio University Southern Riffe Center Mains Rotunda.
The Russian Duo was founded in 2007 by Oleg Kruglyakov, a Russian balalaika virtuoso. The balalaika is a Russian stringed instrument in the lute family with a triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings.
American Terry Boyarsky founded the group with Kruglyakov; Boyarsky is a concert pianist, ethnomusicologist, which means she's a scholar who researches and analyzes music from different cultures to understand the relationships between music and the societies in which it is produced and performed.
The duo celebrates cross-cultural creativity, exploring the range of possibilities for balalaika, voice and piano. Their repertoire includes humorous pieces, virtuoso variations, dance music, rhythmic folk songs and lyrical romances. The Russian Duo also performs music of Ukrainian composers, tango, bluegrass, Soviet film music and their own arrangements.
Born in Siberia, Kruglyakov was educated at Yekaterinburg Conservatory and taught at the Irkustsk School of Music, Perm College of Music and the Perm Institute of Culture. He has performed as balalaika soloist with many Russian folk groups throughout Russia, Europe and Scandinavia. He has participated in many international festivals and performed for the United Nations when he first came to the United States. He also has participated in theater productions, has been commissioned to compose music for a children's theater production and for a children's puppet troupe, has four albums to his credit, and regularly performs and judges in a variety of venues in the United States and Russia.
Boyarsky has engaged in collaborations involving chamber music, choral singing, folk dance, coaching and accompanying dance. She has collaborated with singers and dancers across the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland and Venezuela. She has degrees from Reed College, Cleveland Institute of Music and Kent State University. She has taught and created events for institutions such as the Dalcroze Society of America, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and universities across the country, Thailand and Venezuela. She was in the first group of artists selected in the Kennedy Center's Ohio State-Based Collaborative Initiative and is on the Ohio Teaching Artist roster.
Admission is $15; season tickets to all six concerts are $50 and tickets may be purchased at the door. Students of all ages and children will be admitted free.
