UNO Instructor of Violin, Olga Smola, performed three concerts at the inaugural Lincoln Crossroads Music Festival, held in Lincoln, NE from August 5-11, 2019.

The Lincoln Crossroads Music Festival is an international and local folk, world, traditional and chamber music festival. The 2019 musician roster included performers from Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Syria, Ukraine, US, Russia, Lebanon in collaboration with local musicians.

During the festival, at the opening night Smola improvised with famous clarinet player Kinan Azmeh and founder of the festival Erik Higgins (double bass). The following day, she performed Syrian and Lebanon music by Kinan Azmeh and Layale Chaker. Two other concerts were dedicated to Native American and Scandinavian music. Smola performed “Standing Bear: A Ponca Indian Cantata” by Jerod Tate with baritone Grant Youngblood, and Woodworks by Danish String Quartet with musicians of the festival. The last concert was broadcasted live on NET radio.

Professor Smola has been invited to perform in next year’s festival.