Slavic

Music Box (Музычная скарбонка) is a series of a few Belarusian short animated films that illustrate and give context to Belarusian folk songs. They were released in 2009 and 2012 by Belarusfilm (Беларусьфільм), the country’s national film studio. They range from three to about 10 minutes long. The series includes songs from a range of […]

Pelageya (the stage name of Pelageya Khanova, Пелагея Сергеевна Ханова) is a Russian singer known for her versions of folk songs of various nations, romances, and other compositions. Occasionally these are arranged with some rock influence, but she sings almost excusively folk songs in what can be considered traditional styles. Pelageya was born into a […]

The Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir (Національний заслужений академічний український народний хор України імені Г. Г. Верьовки; the name in full means “The National Distinguished Academic Ukrainian Folk Choir of Ukraine Named for G. Veryovka”). The choir was founded in 1943 by the USSR’s Council of People’s Commissars in Kharkiv to promote and spread Ukrainian folk […]

The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation. The film Star Wars is well-known in Russia and if you look online, there are actually discussions of whether or not a Russian should ever name a […]

Filip Lato is a young Polish musician based out of Warsaw. In his childhood, Filip attended the Secondary Music School in Warsaw, but interrupted his education there in order to attend a traditional school to graduate. He continued to play music as he went through university and law school and even after he became a […]

The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation. Much of Russia’s modern music language is related to English. For example, the names of most genres can be directly translated: , , , , and even […]

The band Burito’s eclectic music has been described as everything from “r’n’b” to “hard rock with hip hop elements” to “alternative-electronic.” The band borrows from a variety of styles to make a sound entirely their own – sensitive, poetic, and toe-tapping. The band name comes not from Spanish but from a combination of three Japanese […]

The upbeat pop duo Artik & Asti combine electronic beats, hip hop elements, and lively vocals. Popular in Russia and Ukraine, they are also known throughout Eastern Europe. While both band members are Ukrainian, their music is exclusively sung in Russian. Artik & Asti comprises two band members: Artyom Umrikhin (stage name Artik) and Anna […]