Vermont's Russianicity

The news spread like a virus.

I was infected by a nonchalant email from another local Russophile, Myranda. “Thought you might be interested,” the email said, “since it is in Montpelier.”

Well, whenever anything Rus’-related is happening in Montpelier, much less Vermont, I of course take notice. While the world is now keenly aware of our little state’s awesome power over the US Senate, thanks to the actions of Senator James Jeffords, less may be known about the hugely disproportionate level of Russian-related activity that goes on here in the Green Mountains.

Of course, there is the internationally-renowned Russian program at Middlebury College and the esteemed cultural exchange organization, Project Harmony. But, within just a 30 mile radius of Russian Life’s “World Headquarters” in Montpelier there is also: a company that supplied important backup energy units to the Caspian Oil pipeline; Circus Smirkus, where Russian-born coaches train kids in acrobatics and gymnastics (“Hey dad,” my daughter said one day when I picked her up from gymnastics, “my teacher is Russian.”); a company that makes Russian preserved goods for sale in retail stores; a Russian athlete who is one of the world’s top competitive mountain bikers.

And this is just the stuff I know about!

But I digress. About this virus …

The message was intriguing, because it said that, at the last minute, a Russian jazz group in Vermont for the annual Jazzfest, had been engaged to put on a concert in Montpelier.

“Russian jazz group”?!

I know, I know. It sounds a bit like “American Balalaika Orchestra.” (Funny thing: there is just such a group a few hours away in Maine.) Intrigued, I added it to my post-little league game schedule Friday night and thought nothing more of it. (Though I do admit to trying to infect other local Russophiles via email.)

We arrived a bit late, but the concert had not yet started. So I sat wracking my brain about where I had heard the name of the jazz quartet’s leader, Sergei Zhilin. Then it hit me: Zhilin was on our shortlist for potential profiles in our 100 Young Russians to Watch series (see page 20). And me without a tape recorder or a camera!

Needless to say, the concert was outstanding. Zhilin was energy incarnate at the piano and the depth of his virtuosity was astounding. Initially, the audience was small, just 20 or so, and I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed that this was “the best Montpelier could do,” or privileged to be receiving such a private concert. But after intermission, the virus continued to spread; more and more curious folk drifted in and, by the time the second set ended, the hall was full.

Thankfully, I was able to catch up with Zhilin the next day and talk to him about his life and music. Which means you will get to meet this amazing artist in our next issue. He is unquestionably a musician we are going to hear more about in the years to come.

This brings me to the point of this column. There are events like this going on around the country—pockets of Russophilia manifesting in a concert here, a festival or an exhibition there. We try our best to find out about these as soon as we can, and post the information in our web database (and later in our Events Calendar in each issue). But we cannot hear about everything, so please let us know about any event you hear of. You can enter events right into our web database yourself. Just remember: you’d want someone to tell you, wouldn’t you?

Meanwhile, make a place on your calendar for this important annual event: Russian Life’s 4th Annual International Vodka Taste Off and Taste of Russia dinner. We’re taking the show on the road this year, and expanding it to an overnight event at the Eastover family resort in Massachusetts’ Berkshire mountains; see the ad on page 13. Please join us!