 The Houston Balalaika Society was organized in the spring of 1976 by Charley Rappaport. In the fall of 1976 Steve Wolownik moved to Houston and in December of that year, both he and Charley reorganized the orchestra. Steve Wolownik conducted the Orchestra's first performance at the Bellaire Arts festival in the spring of 1977. Later that year Charley Rappaport and Steve Wolownik moved to Atlanta and the direction of the orchestra was passed on to Paul Phillips, who had been one of its founding members. Subsequent conductors of the orchestra have been Michael Skupin, Richard Pickar, Lech Borowicz, Pamela Bingham, John Helton and Sergey Vashchenko, to whom we express our appreciation for their contributions. ________________________________________________________________  Balalaika and Domra Association of America , BDAA The Balalaika and Domra Association of America (BDAA) was formed in 1978 by three musicians Lyn Carpenter, Charley Rapport and Steve Wolownik, who were interested in the study and performance of Russian and Eastern European music on the traditional folk instruments of Russia -- the balalaika, domra, bayan (Russian accordion) and related folk wind and folk percussion instruments. In its nearly 30 years of existence the Association has grown to an international membership of over 400, with connections to many orchestras and ensembles worldwide. The common bond is music, and a desire to learn more about it in the company of others with similar interests._________________________________________________________________________ To Contact The Houston Balalaika Society: Phone: 713-985-5165 or 713-937-6227 Email: houstonbalalaika@gmail.com | 35th Anniversary Concert was Saturday, June 18, 2011   John Helton, Conductor ______________________ Webmaster: |