June Whelan ’62 is the vice president of the Washington Balalaika Society and plays the domra in the Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra. Listen to their music on the Goucher Alumni Mixtape.
How did the orchestra come together?
The Washington Balalaika Society is a community-based orchestra of 55 to 60 musicians organized to perform the music of Eastern Europe, Russia, and Ukraine on traditional Russian folk instruments. It has been performing in the Greater Washington, DC, area and beyond for almost 36 years. It is the largest and most developed folk orchestra of its kind in America. Most people recognize the music of a Russian folk orchestra with “Lara’s Theme” from the motion picture Doctor Zhivago, in which Omar Sharif carried the red balalaika across Russia.
How did you join the orchestra, and what instrument do you play?
I joined the orchestra about 23 years ago with a friend—we were both playing our violins in a church orchestra in Old Town, Alexandria. He suggested I learn the domra and join the Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra. The domra is an oval instrument, like a mandolin, and played with a pick rather than a bow. The transition from playing a violin to a domra is relatively easy because both instruments are tuned the same. At first, I was hesitant to join because I was working full-time; however, after several months of thinking about it, I went to a rehearsal and was captivated by the music! I have attended annual conventions of balalaika orchestras where more than 100 musicians have performed for a guest conductor from the famous Osipov Russian folk orchestra of Moscow.
What is the makeup of the orchestra?
Our orchestra is organized in sections similar to a symphony orchestra and under the direction of a conductor. The domras are in five voices: first and second prima domra (which I play), alto, tenor, and bass. The balalaikas are in five voices: prima, sekunda, alto, bass, contrabass. There is also the gusli (similar to a table harp), accordions, bayan (Russian accordion), wind instruments (flutes, oboes, clarinet, and folk winds), and both conventional and folk percussion instruments. Our conductor is a graduate of the prestigious Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. All the orchestra’s string instruments are crafted in Russia.
Where does the orchestra play?
The orchestra presents more than a dozen concerts each year, including our annual spring and fall series, festivals, parks, and community concert series. It has performed at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with the Paul Hill Chorale and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Embassy of the Russian Federation, James Madison University, Kean University in New Jersey, the Walters Gallery in Baltimore, and the Weinberg Theatre in Frederick, MD.
Our June 2025 concerts were at the Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA, and our repertoire included Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” and works by Tchaikovsky and Borodin. Our featured soloist was Soprano Olga Orlovskaya, the great-great-granddaughter of the famous Russian basso Feodor Chaliapin.
If Goucher alums are in the Washington, DC, area next June 2026, please come to our concerts on June 13 at the F. Scott Fitzgerald in Rockville, MD, and June 14 at the Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA.
