The haunting strains of the balalaika wafted through Trinity Hall on Monday 27 July 2015 as some 90 members and guests enjoyed a concert given by some participants in the 2015 Aberdeen International Youth Festival, which in itself is a world-class festival bursting at the seams with music, dance and theatre and is one of the most celebrated festivals in the city, being a permanent calendar fixture since 1973 and attracts orchestras and chamber musicians from across Europe.
Brothers Michael and Fedor Romanychev are both from St Petersburg where Michael is studying at the city conservatoire and Fedor is concertmaster at the Voganova Ballet Academy. Michael displayed the versatility of the balalaika accompanied by Fedor on the piano in a concert of works by Shalov, Bizov and Afanasyef.
We were also joined by two young singers from Youth Music Theatre UK, in town to perform a brand new production named Coorie Cave, which will be having its premier performances on Thursday 30th and Friday 31st at ACT Aberdeen (Aberdeen Arts Centre). One of the numbers from which they previewed for us. The singers were Anya Bury and Ruby Christina Thorne, accompanied on the piano by Naoise Whearity.
A charity prize draw held at the event raised £570. Grateful thanks to all who donated prizes to the Draw and all who supported it so generously.
