Band members learn about Slavic music

Members of the Canfield Village Middle School Bands learned about the different cultures through music as Simply Slavic and members of HARMONIA visited the school on May 29.

The students learned about the various instrument construction and performance techniques. Some of the instruments the students heard were the Gajda, which is a bagpipe made of goat skin; Frula, which is like a recorder; Cimbalom, which is like a piano; and the Pan Flute.

A dance called the Hopak was discussed with the students so they have an idea of how dance in other cultures is different.

Ken Shirilla spoke to the students about the Eastern Europe countries, including Ukraine, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Macedonia.

Walt Mahovlich and Alexander Fedoriouk from HARMONIA presented the traditional folk music of Eastern Europe. The examples ranged from the Danube to the Carpathians and their repertoire reflected the cultures of this region.

Authentic folk instruments were used that were styled after ones used by turn of the century East-European Gypsy bands. The assembly presented music, dance and language, and showed the differences between Eastern Europe cultures and our American culture.