The Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra, founded in 1988, is a community-based orchestra of volunteers who are dedicated to the study, perpetuation, and performance of Russian, Ukrainian, and Eastern European music on traditional folk instruments including the balalaika, domra, bayan and related folk wind and percussion instruments. It is the largest orchestra of its kind in the United States and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and many other concert venues in the metropolitan Washington area and beyond. The Orchestra is conducted by Svetlana Nikonova, a graduate of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory of St. Petersburg, former member of the acclaimed Andreyev Balalaika Orchestra, and recognized as an accomplished conductor, arranger, domra soloist, and teacher.