BDAA Founder – Lynn Carpenter-McConnell

Lynn Carpenter grew up in southern California, and studied and played piano from an early age.  She studied music at the University of California, Santa Barbara campus and it was there that Lynn first became interested in ethnomusicology, when she heard an African drum troupe.

Lynn first encountered the balalaika in the early 1970’s while working on her masters degree in ethno-musicology at UCLA.  She was studying Nigerian music, and had spent some time in Nigeria.  “While walking through a campus building one day,” say Lynn, ” I hear a wonderful sound coming out of one of the rooms.  I was transfixed by the music, and burst into the room to see what it was.”  In the room she found Steve Wolownik and members of the UCLA Balalaika Orchestra.  “I knew that music was for me.” she says, and I asked Steve, ‘What instrument can I play?’ ”  Steve handed her a bass domra.  “Officially, then, the bass domra was my first Russian folk instrument.”

In 1978 Lynn was sitting on a park bench in Marin County, California, and thought, “What a beautiful place!”  She had recently been to a Balkan music camp in Mendocino, but her heart was with the music of the balalaika, and she wanted to connect more with people who loved Russian folk music.  “Why not?” she thought, and then, “Suddenly the light bulb went on.  Why not find a beautiful place like this retreat, and bring people together for a “balalaika camp?”  She was pretty sure her friends in the Odessa Balalaikas would be interest, and Charley’s Tzigane Balalaikas, and Greg and Roy from her own Troika Balalaikas.  So she fired off a letter to Charley Rappaport.  “I wasn’t even thinking beyond the few players I knew,” says Lynn, “but look what happened!”  This was the idea that set in motion the birth of the Balalaika and Domra Association of America.

After graduating from UCLA, Lynn devoted much of her time learning about Russian folk music, and the instruments, and moved to San Francisco where she formed the group, Troika Balalaikas, with Greg Carageorge and Roy Torley.  Troika Balalaikas very quickly became known in the Bay area as an exciting, multi-talented trio that brought down the house when they played.  The group toured the U.S. and Canada, with a diverse repertoire of Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Caucasian, Gypsy and Hungarian music.  Troika Balalaikas produced two recordings, the second one being a joint effort with the Great American Gypsy Band (working with friends Steve Wolownik, Charley Rappaport, and Eduard Svetlovsky).

In 1982, Lynn moved to Atlanta, a real “balalaika capital for me,” she says.  Lynn is now a member of the Troika Balalaikas and also plays in the Atlanta Balalaika Society.  In addition to managing concerts and tours for Troika Balalaikas, Lynn’s music management business, “World Artists,” arranges tours for numerous ethnic groups across the country