Another busy period is looming for the Sydney Balalaika Orchestra as we prepare for a number of concerts & the recording of our fourth CD. This follows a number of successful performances at Penrith, Strathfield, Hurstville & Bargo.

Orchestra numbers continue to swell, latest additions being another guitarist Brian Free which will bring our present total to 26. “There is even the chance of a second contra bass balalaika joining us. That will add a bit more boom & tonal depth - not to say visual impact to the line up”, said musical director Victor Serghie. “It only seems a couple of years since fewer than 15 of us flew to Uzhno Sakhalinsk for our last Russian Far East tour. At this rate, we’ll soon need a bigger stage.”

A successful concert was held in June at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith. On 15th August the SBO also played at the Hurstville Civic Centre. This was a charity concert; the proceeds being donated to the Calvary Hospital.

In June, the orchestra performed before many VIPs from the Russian Asia-Pacific Council in Strathfield’s Russian Club. The President of the Russian Australian Representative council Igor Savitsky, reported that some members of the delegation were not only startled to discover that such an orchestra existed in Australia, but were amazed at how well it performed.

The Australian Institute of Music was equally impressed when SBO accompanied one of the orchestra’s bayan (accordion) players, the beautiful Lina Chegodaev. It was her graduation recital and as a result, she won a high distinction – and it was thoroughly deserved.

With all these new players, the orchestra is also working on increasing its repertoire to take advantage of the added richness of tone. “We are due to give a major concert in the Strathfield Town Hall on 21 November. We will have our usual catering of home-made delicacies and refreshments and will have a raffle with excellent prizes. This concert will be followed on 27 November by our annual Musica Viva performance at the Café Carnivalé in Paddington”, said Victor.

The orchestra is also in the process of recording its fourth CD, taking advantage of the bigger sound & the new repertoire being rehearsed. It will build on the orchestra’s earlier CD releases. The new CD will hopefully be available early next year.

The orchestra will also have a bigger on stage look with a costume ‘makeover’,. “These new costumes,” said Victor “while definitely made in Australia, will look very Russian”. “While our earlier costumes will still be worn on stage, new ones will look…..well………you’ll just have to wait and see!”

Please check our website www.balalaika.com.au for all the details on forthcoming performances and other updates.

Best Regards
SBO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

May 2009

2009 started out well for the Sydney Balalaika Orchestra (SBO) with great concerts in Katoomba & Gerringong before ecstatic audiences. We also performed for the residents in St Sergius of Radonezh retirement home, Cabramatta to mark the opening of their new accommodation block.

But the greatest accolade came with an invitation for the whole orchestra to play at the 2009 folk music festival in Volgograd, Russia. Now these festival organisers don’t give out invitations lightly (& you have to be invited). Maybe it was due to the success of our 2007 Far East Russia tour or because they saw us on Russian TV or heard our CDs. Whatever - the SBO was considered of high enough standard to play alongside the best in Russia. So imagine our frustration when due to the world financial crisis, the festival was cancelled, along with a proposed Russian tour in July.

However, their loss is Sydney’s gain; with a major concert scheduled for June 14th in the Russian club, Strathfield. This concert starts at 3.00PM & will be attended by many VIPs from the Russian Asia-Pacific Council which this year, is hosted in Australia. Several Moscow delegates will be amongst the group lead by President of the Russian Australian Representative Council, Igor Savitsky, who has been a tireless supporter of the SBO.

On 28 June, the SBO puts on another concert in the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith. This concert will start at 3.00PM. We suggest you book early for both these concerts as demand for tickets will be high.

Following our attempt to recruit musicians, we are pleased to announce that Leysa Laker, Tanya Jephtha & Stephen Lalor have joined the SBO on prima domra. Lina Chegodaev is back with her Bayan, while Catherine Chong’s clarinet and Geoff Brain’s flute are adding a touch of wind instruments to our over-all sound. If anyone wishes to join the orchestra we want to hear from you, & you never know – you may end up coming to Russia with us, on another tour planned for next year.

There has been a pause in the orchestra’s ‘baby boom’, with Milica (Mitzie) Obradovic-Vijatovic & Sophia Markotzeva-Cece back after having become mothers. While our virtuoso Lucy Voronova’s hammers were whizzing over her cimbalom within days after giving birth to baby Dasha on 5/11/08. This baby-boom ‘pause’ may be only temporary!

In the last 12 months we have also been blessed with the wonderful voice of mezzo-soprano, Maria Timofeeva who sang with us while her husband Andrew Goodwin has been touring with the Australian Opera.

On a sad note we would like to inform you that the composer of “Lara’s Theme”, Maurice Jarre, passed away on 30th March this year.

Best Regards
SBO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

January 2009

Greetings and a very happy new year to all our SBO friends and supporters.

With holidays and end of year festivities behind us, we begin 2009 with exciting plans from the year ahead and hope we continue bringing our beautiful music to all our listeners.

During the last year, SBO has experienced a number of structural changes; several new members joined our group and unfortunately we have lost a couple. But the most thrilling news was that four of our young musicians have given birth to four healthy, gorgeous babies! Congratulations to Domenika, Milica, Sophia & Lucy!

We would like to remind you to check our website for more information and updates.

We look forward to seeing you at our next venue!

Best Regards
SBO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE