From Moscow to Mower
Published 4:52 pm Saturday, March 3, 2012
Southgate learns about culture with Russian trio
Southgate Elementary students took a trip through Russia Friday morning.
Students danced, sang, and played instruments with Moscow Nights, the three-man Russian folk group.
“Learning about a culture like this is such a positive experience,” said Margo Bissen, Southgate music teacher.
Bissen was able to bring Moscow Nights to Austin through Riverside Concerts, which hosted Moscow Nights Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center. Moscow Nights has toured around the country since 1994 and has played thousands of concerts, according to Vitaliy Bezordnov, one of the Moscow Nights trio.
“For us, it’s an opportunity to spread our culture to people and introduce them to our culture,” he said.
To prepare, Southgate students learned about Russian composers, a bit of Russian history, some folk songs including “Kalinka,” and even the troika dance. All of that makes the Moscow Nights concert mean that much more to students, according to Bissen.
“They’ll always have a real broad sense of the songs they heard,” she said.