The Arizona Balalaika Orchestra celebrates its 30th anniversary this weekend in concerts that include appearances by the Rusyny Dancers, Sons of Orpheus and celebrated Russian domrist Alexander Tsygankov.
Tsygankov gets props for traveling the farthest; he's coming here from Moscow to showcase some virtuoso playing on an instrument many here have never heard.
The domra takes the role of violin in a traditional Russian balalaika orchestra. It's mandolin-sized, three- or four-stringed, and usually fills in the melody alongside the orchestra's central balalaikas and bayans.
Since its start at the University of Arizona in the 1970s, Arizona Balalaika Orchestra has made it its mission to celebrate the Russian folk-music traditions. The ensemble began as an offshoot of the UA Russian Department. In 1980 founder Mia Gay turned it into a community orchestra.
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The group, along with the affiliated Kalinka Russian Dancers, boasts 50 members - instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers.
The 30th anniversary concerts also will feature the Sons of Orpheus male choir, a longtime orchestra collaborator, under the direction of Grayson Hirst.
The 30th Anniversary Concert will be performed at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Pima Community College Center for the Arts Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $15 through the PCC box office, 206-6986; or The Folk Shop, 2525 N. Campbell Ave., 881-7147.
