Live Performaces by Tuvan throat singers extraordinaire Chirgilchin with Soriah and Yliyana Krivoshapkina

Chirgilchin with Soriah and Yliyana Krivoshapkina

 

Chirgilchin is a group of musicians from Tuva, a small Russian province north of Western Mongolia. Their music tells stories of their homeland, its horses and its people. Throat-singing is an extraordinary vocal form in which one singer produces two or more voices simultaneously, the low sounds in the throat harmonizing with middle and high flute-like overtones, to create richly layered melodies that evoke Central Asian steppes and nomadic life. Atmospheric and mesmeric, this music is almost too difficult to describe in words and must be heard to be believed. The most advanced forms of throat-singing come from Tuva, and the members of Chirgilchin are among the best and most accomplished throat-singers in all of Tuva.

Yuliyana Krivoshapkina Yuliyana is a virtuoso in the art of the khomus, the national instrument of the Sakha Republic. It functions much like a Jew’s harp, but differs in several respects. A conventional Jew’s harp is limited in range, volume, and pitch. The khomus is loud and strikingly expansive in range. Yuliyana’s skill allows her to play sounds across about three octaves. Her music draws on the powers of Nature and the wisdom and traditions of the Yakut people to portray the timeless relationship between Man and the Universe.

 

Soriah is a West Coast musician who spends time in Tuva and has built a solid reputation here and abroad. He performs both traditional music and experimental electronica: ambient, tribal, drone, darkwave and more.