AN OLD PROVERB STATES: “A fairy tale is a lie, but a song tells the truth”. Fairy tales have become rare, but folk tunes still form an integral part of daily life. Accompanied by the balalaika and the bayan, these songs tell of love and loss, of sadness and solace, of brave deeds and everyday problems. Humor and dance can be found in the music, as well as melancholic longing and heroic pathos. Even today, as in earlier days, the close connection with real life is ever-present in the music of the Slavic peoples.

The repertoire of The St. Nicholas Balalaika Orchestra is essentially based on folk songs that came out of the eastern European countryside of long ago—songs from the childhood of the peasant. Songs from the workers in the fields or those seated at the spinning wheel. Songs from weddings, promenades, happy occasions, sad occasions. Songs of our ancestors. These songs form a living treasury that has survived the ages and that will be kept alive into the future.

We invite you to join us as we journey into our distant past.

      The St. Nicholas Balalaika Orchestra       
5507 Severn Circle NW      Canton, Ohio 44708