Balalaika Virtuoso Washes Pots in Union

Former White Russian army officer Mikhail Tikonoff is on the University payroll.

The international linguist and balalaika virtuoso washes pots in the Union.

Tikonoff brought his second wife, his two children, and his balalaika to America in 1951. He had toured three continents with his combination madelinguitar before the Gestapo sent him off to a forced labor camp in 1941, but has performed professionally only once since his arrival in America.

The American Federation of Musicians wants a $170 initiation fee and $25 per month before it will obtain bookings for the virtuoso. And Tikonoff, once a student at the Paris Conservatory of Music, does not have the money to join the union.

So far the highest paying job he has held in his two years in America has been $40 a week scrubbing pans for the University.

In Europe, he was a celebrated radio musician, performing constantly on Paris stations. He had fled to Paris in 1920 after spending seven years in the Russian army.

In the inter-war period, the virtnose mastered five languages on his tours, and studied the contrabass at the Paris Conservatory. He made several records in Germany that are still being played on German disc jockey programs.

But in the Union kitchen he is known only as "Mike."

Now 53 years old, and worried about preserving his talent, the University of Charkow graduate is anxious to find other employment. "The kitchen work is very bad for my hands," he says looking at his fingers. "I never use a pick when I play the balalaika."