Harmonica

The director is Sergey Nadopta, an Honoured Artist of Russia. From the beginning it was a duet of bayan-players: Sergey Nadopta and Vladimir Struchenkov. Then Maya Evseeva and Larissa Evseeva (a vocal duet), Michael Lapko (balalaika), Vasiliy Nedosekin (contrabass), Alexander Belyaev (percussions), and Nikolay Gorlov (an Honoured Artist of Russia, baritone) joined the ensemble. The ensemble played in Germany, Poland, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, co-operated with many Russian and foreign groups and musicians, for example, with the Moscow Kremlin Chorus, with a Belgian organist Lyudo Gelun. The repertoire of the ensemble consists of Russian folk and ritual songs, folk-tunes, chastushkas (folk verses, usually humorous and topical, sung in a lively manner), old romances, songs from different Russian regions, music of different folks, instrumental compositions of Russian and foreign composers. Most of the arrangements are made by S. Nadopta and V. Struchenkov.