Slavic Dreams, left to right:
Al Esguerra – Prima Domra. Al also plays violin and ukulele, and lends a helping hand to other musicians with instrument and pick “engineering.”
Cindy Stroup – Prima Domra. Cindy organizes the concerts and music. She also plays mandolin in the Takoma Mandoleers, a mandolin-guitar orchestra.
Penny Weissman – Prima and Alto Domra. Penny plays classical guitar. She is the ensemble leader and responsible for arrangements and artistic direction.
Kathy Hulan – Prima Domra. Kathy is CFO of Washington Balalaika Society. She also plays sekunda balalaika and is a member of the Beltway Balalaikas.
Sal Ferrantelli – Keyboard. Sal also plays balalaika. He has over 40 years’ experience as a choir conductor, piano player, music composer and arranger.
Dick Hulan – Kontrabass Balalaika. Dick also plays a number of other folk instruments and is a member of the Beltway Balalaikas.
Jim Pope — Alto Balalaika and vocals. Jim also plays prima balalaika, piano, and has performed in choral groups at the Kennedy Center and across Europe.
Jane Purcell — Sekunda Balalaika. Jane also plays piano and has performed in several choral and dance groups.
Janet Bohm – Prima Balalaika. Jan is President of the Washington Balalaika Society. She is a member of the Beltway Balalaikas and the Reston Chorale.
Katia Bogdanov — Vocals and Percussion. Katia has Master's in Choral Conducting and Voice and has been singing with different groups her whole life.
Slavic Dreams is an ensemble of the Washington Balalaika Society, the largest folk orchestra in the United States. The ensemble wears traditional folk costumes and performs on authentic folk instruments bringing the music of Eastern Europe, Russia, and beyond to the broader community.
A typical music program includes a sampling of different styles of music, including some music that was especially composed for these folk instruments.
The ensemble consists of balalaikas, domras, accordion, a variety of percussion instruments, and vocalists. The domra is a round-backed instrument similar to the Iralian mandolin. The balalaika is a triangular shaped instrument that was originally a peasant instrument derived from the domra. The balalaika was perfected in the 1890’s and became the professional level instrument of today.
More information about the Slavic Dreams ensembleand the Washington Balalaika Society can be found at www.balalaika.org and on our Facebook pages.
