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View Additional Info
Things to Know About Kitka: A Fact Sheet
Kitka sings in over a dozen languages including:
- Albanian
- Belasrussian
- Bosnian
- Bulgarian
- Croatian
- Czech
- Georgian
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Hungarian
- Ladino
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- Latvian
- Latgallian (an ancient language still spoken in parts of Latvia)
- Macedonian
- Romanian
- Romanes (the language of the Roma or “Gypsies”)
- Russian
- Serbo-Croatian
- Ukrainian
- Yiddish
- Plus occasional Latin, medieval Gallician, and ancient Greek
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Listen for these vocal characteristics and techniques in Kitka’s repertoire:
- Asymmetrical or Odd Meters such as 5/8 (Track 4), 7/8 (tracks 12 & 14), 15/16 (Track 1). Track 16 showcases odd composite rhythms in combining 9/8, 5/8, and 7/8 meters.
- Blending (Tracks 3, 6, 7, 11, 18)
- Close dissonant intervals (Tracks 1, 4, 13, 16)
- Glides (Tracks 2 & 5)
- Intricate ornamentation (Tracks 8, 9, 13, 25)
- Open voice (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20)
- Unusual melodic modes (Tracks 2, 9, 13, 16)
- Vocal Drones (Tracks 2, 4, 9, 13, 16)
Kitka’s ties to Eastern Europe:
- 1979-present: Kitka members conduct field research in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, Former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Balkan and Slavic communities throughout America
- 1986: Kitka performs at the Illinden Festival in Bitola, Macedonia
- 1991: Kitka members travel to Bulgaria, joining a delegation of America’s finest Balkan singers; the first non-native ensemble invited to perform at the closing ceremonies of the 1991 Koprivshtitsa National Festival of Bulgarian Folklore
- 1997-present: Kitka hosts master artist residencies and collaborative concerts with some of the finest choral directors and singers from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Greece, Belarus, and Turkey
- 2002: Kitka travels to Bulgaria to perform as "international guests of honor at the 50th anniversary gala concert of the world famous Bulgarian Women's Choir "Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares." Group conducts field research for Wintersongs and other projects in Bulgarian villages.
- 2003: Kitka awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Work Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the City of Oakland New Works Creative Partnerships Pilot Program to create a "futuristic folk opera" in collaboration with the Ukrainian composer and performance artist Mariana Sadovska.
- Summer 2005: Kitka appears at major international music festivals in Ukraine, Belarus, and Hungary.
Additional Info
A Landscape of Sound and Tradition from Eastern Europe:
Vocal ...
Things to Know About Kitka: A Fact Sheet
Question and Answer with Kitka Vocalist and Executive Director Shira ...
Accompanist biographies, Wintersongs tour
Top of Press Release
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