KAVKASIA
(meaning "Caucasus") consists of three Americans who together have more
than forty years of experience singing the traditional music of Georgia.
In 1994 we formed a professional vocal trio dedicated to studying and
performing
that music. In the years since then, we have performed everywhere from
Lincoln Center to the Tbilisi Opera House.
We sing concerts and lead workshops in
North
America, and we have made several extended visits to Georgia to study
with
singers there, both in professional ensembles and in remote villages.
In
1997 each of us was made a State Prize Laureate and was awarded the
Silver
Medal of the Georgian Ministry of Culture "for profound knowledge of
the
folk music of Georgia and his role in its popularization around the
world."
(If you use webmail, or the order link
fails, email <sgelzer@umw.edu>
for U.S. orders or
<argasser@gmail.com>
for Canada and
the rest
of the world.)
Kavkasia's newest
album, The Fox and the Lion
(2006),
on the Traditional
Crossroads label,
features rarities of the Georgian folk repertoire.
Here's a brief review of The Fox and the Lion
by ethnomusicologist Ted Levin
in BBC Music
Magazine (September 2007):
"Trio Kavkasia exuberantly quashes
the myth that world music traditions are most authentically represented
by indigenous musicians. This threesome hails from North America, but
here they render Georgian vocal polyphony's often weird-sounding
harmonies and scale tunings with precision and panache. Recorded in a
Benedictine monastery in New York, the music sounds lush and resonant,
revealing the Trio's nimble counterpoint, angular voice-leading, and
strident chord tunings in all their dissonant glory."
Kavkasia's
first album, Songs
of the Caucasus (1995),
is on the Well-Tempered
World label.
(This album also exists as a reissue entitled "Songs of
Earthly Delight From the Caucasus," with different cover artwork.)
UPCOMING
EVENTS
September 2008: Kavkasia
performs at Swarthmore
College in Swarthmore, PA:
1. Saturday September 13th at 2 pm: a music workshop (open to the public)
in Bond Memorial Hall.
2. Sunday September 14th at 3 pm: a concert
in Lang Concert Hall.
October 2008: Kavkasia performs
in Toronto:
The MARCO POLO PROJECT
brings together the Toronto Consort,
Kavkasia, and traditional Chinese instrumentalists for two extraordinary concerts:
Friday October 3rd and Saturday October 4th at 8 pm
at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor Street West (just west of
Spadina).
PAST EVENTS
In late January 2007
Kavkasia
performed in the Bay Area
with the women's vocal ensemble Kitka:
at St. John's
Church
in San
Francisco,
at Holy Cross
Church
in Santa
Cruz,
and at the First
Unitarian
Church in Oakland.
In mid-January 2007
Kavkasia performed in Toronto:
at the Church
of the
Holy
Trinity and at York
University
Recital
Hall.
In October 2006 Kavkasia performed in Fredericksburg,
Virginia:
a
workshop at Chancellor High
School,
a concert and a workshop at the University
of Mary Washington,
and a concert on the Acoustic
Roots series at the Liberty
Town Arts Workshop.
In August 2004 Kavkasia performed
its Tenth
Anniversary Concertat the Church of the Holy Trinity, in
Toronto.
The same week, Kavkasia taught a
six-day intensive
workshop on Georgian singingat
the Royal
Conservatory of Music, in Toronto.
teaching a song to the class
in-class chunir
performance
The workshop ended with
a public recital by the
students.
In
April 2004 Kavkasia was on
tour in New
England, performing
six concerts: at Williams
College, Williamstown, MA; Bennington
College, Bennington, VT; Dartmouth
College, Hanover, NH; Saxtons
River, VT; Columbia University,
New York, NY; and Marlboro,
NY.
guest-teaching Ted Levin's world
music class
at Dartmouth College
audience participation (the "Hei Wan Di
La" All-Stars)
during a concert at
Bennington College
What
the CRITICS have said about KAVKASIA:
Kavkasia being interviewed
on Georgian television after our 1995 Tbilisi
concert
"...exotic, beautifully modulated
style...
haunting beauty..." -- New
York Times
"... as riveting as any world beat act."
-- Now Magazine
"This music
is hundreds of years old,
its
origins deep in the Caucasus Mountains, harmonious and throaty."
-- Weekend Edition, National
Public
Radio
"... superb blend and tuning...
outstanding,
both as an introduction to a rich musical tradition and as an example
of
highly accomplished a cappella singing." --
Toronto Globe and Mail
"This music vibrates up your body, and
by
the time it gets to the back of your neck, the little hairs on the back
of your neck are standing up. It's quite wonderful."
-- Metro
Morning, Canadian Broadcasting Company
