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Kitka world music
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Times Argus, Kitka world music >>
Kitka, the women's' world music vocal ensemble from the San Francisco Bay area, performing traditional and contemporary harmonies from Eastern Europe and beyond, will present three Vermont concerts in Burlington, Montpelier, and Westminster West.
Kitka's eight sophisticated singers blend a contemporary sensibility with specialized vocal techniques from Eastern Europe that have been distilled over centuries. They have been featured on Nation Public Radio, CBC and Prairie Home Companion, and in 2002 they performed as "international guests of honor" at the 5oth Anniversary Jubilee concert of the world-renowned Bulgarian women's choir Le Mystere des Voix Bulgare in Sofia Bulgaria.
The ensemble's "Wintersongs" program presents seasonal songs from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Caucasus Georgia and elsewhere. While many of the songs have a holiday theme, many are also thought to have pre-Christian origins celebrating the solstice. Just as cultures outside of Europe have integrated newer Christian beliefs with existing older nature-centered traditions, the same is true in Eastern Europe, giving the repertoire an earthy and exotic feel, offering a broader appeal than if it were simply liturgical music.
"The music taps into something really essential and ancient," says Kitka vocalist and Executive Director Shira Cion. "You think about the solstice and the nights, which are dark and cold and long. A lot of our songs either encapsulate that winter mood or bring a contrasting spirit of warmth, light, and jubilation to it."
Using only the pure unaccompanied voice, Kitka — which is also a Bulgarian and Macedonian word for "bouquet" that is frequently used in Balkan women's songs — creates a constantly shifting landscape of sound, pulsing with angular rhythms, where dramatic dynamics leap from delicate stillness to shattering resonance, and seamless unisons explode into lush incomprehensible chords. 02/04/05 >> go there
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