CONCERT:

HUUN-HUUR-TU

Huun-Huur-Tu is the best-known ensemble specializing in the traditional Tuva throat singing - the unusual singing technique in which a singer makes two or three voices sound at a time.

The band was formed in 1992 in Tuva , an autonomous republic of Russia . Tuva is located in southern Siberia on the Mongolian border . Nature, the environment and animals play a central role in the songs and in the lives of the Tuva people. They speak a Turkik- Mongolian language. The founding members of Huun-Huur-Tu: Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Sayan Bapa, Alexander Bapa and Albert Kuvezin, worked in various state ensembles in Soviet times which provided a livelihood for young musicians for decades. As the music business became more privatized, many musicians decided to leave these state ensembles and form their own bands.

In the late 1980s, American musicologist Ted Levin did research in Tuva, studying primarily the throat singing, or “xöömei”. He became acquainted with the members of Huun-Huur-Tu, whom he later invited to the United States. The musicians were initially disturbed that their audience was not so interested in the music as in their peculiar singing technique, which was almost completely unknown to the world until then. However, they soon became so popular that they also worked with Frank Zappa, then with the Kronos Quartet, Ry Cooder, the Chieftains, and L. Shankar.

Most traditional Tuva music is performed by a solo singer or musician, but Huun-Huur-Tu performs these old songs and melodies accompanied by self-made, traditional instruments with eclectic instrumentation.

Tickets: 3500 Ft – in advance/ 4000 Ft – day of the concert