If you want to brush up on your Russian culture, you can listen to a lot of Tchaikovsky around the United States this month.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m., Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival will feature a program of Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, including his Swan Lake Suite. The Russian composer's Violin Concerto is on the program on August 8, and there will also Russian music--pieces by Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich on August 3 and 4 All the concerts are free.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will perform a "Tchaikovsky Spectacular" on Sunday, August 5, at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in Auburn Hills, Mich. Tickets range from $15 to $50, and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform its own "Tchaikovsky Spectacular" at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. On the program: the 1812 Overture, with canons. Tickets range from $23 to $80, and there will also be fireworks. Or you can try two Tchaikovsky events in southern California, both on Friday, August 31. The San Diego Symphony will be performing at 7:30 p.m., or you can head to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles at 8:30.

If that much noise is not your thing and you are in Utah, then you might want to look into a Russian Impressionism painting workshop. Three artists will lead a three-day workshop at the Eccles Community Arts Center in Ogden from August 22 to 24. The class is for beginning and intermediate adult students, and runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuition is $375, and there is a $30 model fee. Call (801) 392-6935 to pre-register or see the Center's Web site.

The Russian American Kids Circus (one of my Russian culture favorites) will perform at the Brookhaven Amphitheatre in Farmingville, N.Y. on Sunday, August 26 at noon.

Also on the 26th, but on the other side of the U.S., the Skamania Performing Arts Foundation in Carson, Wash. will host the Russian ensemble Trio Voronezh, performing on a variety of traditional Russian instruments.