Slavic Spring Festival Washington, DC March 31, 2007

George Washington University will be hosting the first Slavic Spring Festival in Washington DC. This celebration of Slavic culture and history, a meeting of Slavic representatives and officials, is unprecedented in scope. All are cordially invited to partake in a day of traditional Slavic cuisine, dance, and folk music. The feature performance will be the 2004 winner of Eurovision Song Contest, Ruslana! The public will be addressed by foreign ministers and ambassadors.

Initially, the festival concept envisioned an informal gathering for Slavic students and their respective embassies. However, thanks to the diligence and enthusiasm of the national representatives, the size of the guest list and level of prestige far exceeded the original scope of the project.

The festival is aimed at reaching unity through diversity and is a large undertaking combining the direction and input of the embassies of Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. There will be ambassadors and prominent politicians from all corners of the Slavic world to reveal their unique national perspective and historical heritage. Members of Congress and various representatives of US government agencies will also be in attendance. Foreign and local mass media is welcome and encouraged to cover the event.

The festival will take place on the campus of the George Washington University, near the intersection of 21st Street and H Street NW from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM on March 31, 2007. The event will be open to the public and the admission will be free of charge.

Russian dance and music ensemble "Barynya" will be performing for one hour program with six dancers, three musicians and singer (full company).

If you would like more information about this event please visit www.scfcusa.org or to schedule an interview with The Slavic Cultural Festival Committee, please contact Andrew Mariyanich at 267-255-3631 or e-mail at andryxamar@gmail.com

Ensemble "Barynya" dancers and musiciains will be happy to see our friends at this free concert!!!

Thank you
Spasibo very much!

Mikhail Smirnov (Artistic director/Founder)
Russian dance and music Ensemble "Barynya"
www.barynya.com

It's Barynya Time!

RUSSIAN ROMA MUSIC: Russian Gypsy Guitar Album by "Kolpakov Trio"

Moscow (Russia) based Russian Gypsy ensemble The Kolpakov Trio is the first group of the kind to tour North America in the post-socialist period. The striking style of the The Kolpakov Trio reflects the training of its members at world known Gypsy Theatre Romen from Moscow, which arranges traditional music and dance for polished stage performance.

Aleksander Kolpakov, the group's director, was born in 1943 in the district of Orienburg in Eastern Russia. He was raised with music among the Servo group of Roma and began playing the seven-string guitar as a boy. In the 1960s he moved to Moscow and has since worked with a number of groups, including the Romen Theatre. He is a composer as well as a singer and instrumentalist.

His nephew Vadim Kolpakov mastered the seven-string guitar, the vocal style and dance tradition of Russian Roma Gypsy music at an early age and is from the Saratov region of Russia. In 1992 he moved to Moscow to train with his uncle. He has toured internationally and recorded with the Kolpakov Trio, and in addition sings, dances and plays the guitar in his own group Via Romen, which he founded in the United States.

Tamara Cherepovskaia is a well-known Roma singer, and has toured in France, Italy, Georgia, Latvia, and America. She is highly in demand in the contemporary Moscow gypsy scene as a solo singer and dancer, and has collaborated in several recordings.

read full story, get free MP3 downloads at http://www.barynya.

thank you

Mikhail Smirnov

Ensemble Barynya

New York

http://www.barynya. com

russian restaurant - Russian garmoshka music album

Garmoshka Russian traditional music album "Russian Restaurant" recorded by Mikhail Smirnov, performer, musician, folk singer, founder of New York based Russian dance and music ensemble Barynya in February 2007. Recording was made possible by singers-songwriters, Russian bard musicians Yuriy and Viktor Tenman from New York at their recording studio in Staten Island (Villa Nova Studio). If you ever attend a Russian party where people are singing, you will be able to recognize all the tunes from this album. The very first song that people will do together after a few drinks at the Russian wedding or Birthday party most likely will be "Moroz-Moroz" or "Gorochka". There is no singing on this album. Well, almost no singing... Album contains traditional Russian tunes: "Kalinka", "Moscow nights", "Korobushka" and other Russian favorite songs performed on Russian garmoshka.

Russian traditional Garmoshka music MP3 samples

Kogda b Imel Zlatye Gory ("What If I have had mountains of gold?")
Vinovata Li Ya ("Am I guilty if I am in love?")
Moroz, Moroz! ("Father Frost")
Subboteya ("Saturday Affair")

more at
http://www.barynya.com/mp3/garmoshka.htm