Sat 1/13 @ 8PM
You guitarists out there think you are hot stuff racing your way around six strings? You’ve got nothing on the master of the 60-string bandura!
Come be impressed at Kent’s Standing Rock Cultural Arts when Bandura master Oleh Mahlay performs on this Ukrainian instrument, whose music was nearly eliminated by World War II and the subsequent Soviet domination of the country when many bandura players were executed to wipe out Ukrainian national culture.
The Cleveland-born Mahlay, whose parents were Ukrainian immigrants, studied both violin and piano with teachers at the Music Settlement, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music and was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. He became choir director at Parma’s St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral at 16 and began studying the bandura about the same time. He is currently artistic director/conductor of the Detroit-based Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, an ensemble with roots in post-World War I Kiev.
Mahlay will share some of the traditional music for the instrument as well as some of its history. In addition, the evening will feature a screening of the documentary Music of Survival: The Story of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus by Orest Sushko.
It’s a $10 suggested donation or pay what you can. Prior to the performance at 7:30, there’s a meet-and-greet with light food and drinks.
ukrainian-bandurist-chorus-conductor/
Kent, OH 44240