BDAA Yearly Convention
What is the Yearly Convention?
Members can attend our week-long summer convention held in a different city every year. Attendees have the opportunity to perform, take lessons, participate in workshops and lectures related to Russian and Eastern European music and folk traditions, and meet people from all over the world!
We invite world-renowned balalaika, domra, bayan, and and choir virtuosos from the US and abroad as guest artists. Our artists put on mini-concerts, give lessons on technique, conduct small ensembles, and share their professional musical expertise with us for a week. For those who sing, dance, or just enjoy learning, we offer choir and folk dance classes, as well as introductory Russian language lessons, Russian crafts, and ethnomusicology lectures.
However, the main feature of the BDAA convention is the 80-100 person balalaika orchestra and Russian Festival Concert we give to the public on the last day. Everyone is invited to participate in the orchestra and play in the concert extravaganza.
Convention Concert Clips
The highlight for most members is playing and performing in the Festival Orchestra Concert on the last day of the convention. All skill levels are welcome to participate in the orchestra. Check out a few recordings from previous concerts / conventions below!
Scenes from Previous Conventions
Although the week is packed with lessons and workshops, the convention is really about meeting people and sharing the rich cultural history of this music with each other.
2021 BDAA Virtual Summer Camp
Because of Covid-19 we have suspended in-person activities until 2022. But, you don’t have to wait until then to take lessons or enjoy BDAA festivities. For the second year in a row, we will hold a virtual “Summer Camp” from July 15-31, 2021. Our first ever virtual camp was held last year over Zoom and it was an amazing success. We hope to build on last year’s virtual convention and keep everyone practicing until 2022.
