Ukrainian music ensemble DahkaBrahka will perform a free concert in Whitefish for at-risk younth later this spring thanks to a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The NEA recently announced awards totaling more than $27.6 million nationally, including a Challenge America award to the Whitefish Theatre Company. The grant is providing a free-of-charge concert for several organizations that work with at-risk youth in the Flathead Valley, as well as free transportation to the show for those groups.

The Challenge America grants support projects that reach underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.

“With the generous support of the National Endowment of the Arts, this is the first year that the Whitefish Theatre Company has been able to offer a free outreach concert to organizations working with at-risk youth,” says WTC Executive Director Gayle MacLaren. “It is exciting to be able to offer this unique cultural experience to this select population, most of whom don’t have the means or opportunity to see live music.”  

Organizations that may be interested in this free concert can contact Gayle at 862-5371.

DakhaBrakha, who derive their name from the old Ukrainian words “give-and-take”, is a world-music quartet from Kiev. Performing folk melodies and rhythms that are at once sacred and modern, DakhaBrakha creates a sound of unexpected and extremely powerful new music, all driven by propulsive drums, accordion, cello, mouth harp, and layered vocals.

The group mixes everything from punk-pop to traditional Ukrainian songs in cool yet beguiling textures, often with the close harmonies usually associated with Balkan music. Recent venues include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Bonnaroo Music Festival where they were named “Best Breakout Band” due to their incredible stage presence.

The band will perform a free concert for underserved youth in the afternoon, while the public is invited to purchase tickets to their evening performance on April 28, 2016.