Дуэт ТрансАтлантик. Владимир Фридман (гитара) и Александр Паперный (балалайка)

You might think there is not much in common between Bach and Klezmer, or between Jazz and traditional Russian music. Yet the TransAtlantic Duo of Alexander Paperny (balalaika) and Vladimir Fridman (guitar and vocals) commands their instruments with virtuosity to seamlessly bring together all these diverse music styles in their exploration of the world’s musical heritage. Alexander and Vladimir have been working together for a long time. In Moscow,Russia (1992-1998) they played together in eccentric show group Jazz Balalaika, with which they toured all over the world and recorded several CDs. At the same time, they performed as duo, playing a variety of music, from traditional Russian melodies to Astor Piazzolla tangos.

Vladimir is a guitarist in the Gypsy Strings band; he performs solo and with leading musicians of Washington, DC where he lives now. Vladimir composes his own music. There are some of his original compositions among recordings you can hear on this web page. Vladimir successfully runs Guitar Studio. Many of his students received awards at the Maryland State Guitar Competition.

Alexander has been living in Hamburg from 1998 , Germany. He performs in Balalaika Nuevo trio and solo, and teaches at the Johannes-Brahms-Konservatorium, Hamburg. The distance and time did not separate musicians.

In 2005, they have again performed as a duo in a series of concerts in the Washington, DC area. On April 2006 the TransAtlantic Duo had a very successful concert tour in Germany (Wedel, Hannover, Iselde, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Lauenburg). The Duo recorded CD TransAtlantic Dreams in 2006.

During their 2007 spring tour in the United States , the TransAtlantic Duo played a series of concerts in Washington , D.C. , Maryland , and Virginia . The audience at the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center had the remarkable opportunity to listen to the Duo in May 2007. In September 2007, to the great delight of the audience, the musicians collaborated with American Balalaika Symphony in a performance featuring unique arrangements of the Duo's favorite repertoire and a collection of traditional Russian songs.

See The TransAtlantic Duo live perfomance at Millenium Stage in the Kennedy Center: May 1, 2007 - The TransAtlantic Duo seamlessly blends diverse music styles, including Bach, klezmer, jazz, and traditional Russian music.