Voices of the Ancestors

Blessing the Village - Alive Easter With Amer-Imeri ‘When you listen to these children’s voices I think it’s the reason for happiness.’ - Magda Kevlishvili Join Holly and Susan on an audio adventure to the Georgian village of Khovle with singers from Amer-Imeri and Mtiebi folk ethnographic ensembles https://www.youtube.com/@-amer-imeri3645 https://www.youtube.com/@mtiebi. Walking from house to hou...

“It's a call for me, it’s a call to protect traditions. The Voices of Ancestors aren’t only sounds we heard from the old recordings, it’s all the traditions which our ancestors kept.” Dr. Maka Khardziani —- In this special video episode, you can both see and hear the creative work of Nanina, a women’s group of ethnomusicologists and singers based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Our guest, Dr Maka Khardziani...

“So I feel Voices of the Ancestors are definitely, somehow, I don't know, kept in Georgian traditional music for me, because it's, it brings me so much energetic, like emotional information and energy er encoded in this music over the centuries, which is just because of our ancestors and their voices.” Dr Teona Lomsadze. > This episode covers a lot of ground, both musically and emotionally. Imagin...

“How beautiful is my homeland, the more beautiful it is, the more my heart breaks.” From the song Ra Kargi Ram Khar being sung by protestors in Tbilisi. > Susan travels to Oxford to record a special video episode with Holly (Youtube: https://youtu.be/1sHbDZnUA9Y). Reflecting on the political situation in Georgia, while looking back at the past year and ahead to the next. - Giving an overview of th...

Series 2 Episode 5 “a connection which is not stopping from the past and goes and goes and maybe it’s the circle and maybe it's an unstoppable line - but oh it's a really great feeling.” Vanda Bakuradze > Where can you catch a bear, a giant, a thunderstorm and a Bill Withers song? > Continuing from our last episode, ‘Rituals of the Singing Village’, where we heard from the Chamgeliani singing sist...

How do you welcome the souls of your ancestors? Why are wolves sacred? Can you sing and dance through grief? An audio journey to the highest mountains of Georgia - Svaneti. We meet Ana, Madona and Eka Chamgeliani, three sisters keeping the ancient traditions of their village, Lakhushdi, alive. We hear:- How their mother and grandmother passed on local traditions, protecting them from dying out. -H...

“Nino was like a fish in water amongst all the musical genres of Georgian folk, but especially so amongst the lullabies.” Voices of the Ancestors podcast tribute to Nino Kalandadze-Makaradze, a respected ethnomusicologist, editor and singer with ensemble Mzetamze. In the episode you will: Meet Nino through interviews with fellow Mzetamze singer - Nana Valishvili, former student - Lola Surmanidze a...

Can you tell your changis from your chuniris from your chonguris? You’ll often see one of them in the hands of Trio Mandili. Don’t worry, our guest Nino Razmadze talks us through all the folk instruments of Georgia in this informative episode. Combine listening, with looking at the transcript, and you will become familiar with both the sound and looks of Georgian folk instruments. Even if you’re f...

Voices of Our Grandmothers with guest Tamar Buadze and interpreter Zoé Perret. Kicking off series 2, innovative choir conductor Tamar Buadze tells the surprising tale of how she came to work with Laz songs, while living in Rustavi (far, far away from Laz regions in Georgia and Turkey). One of her former students tells us what it was like to grow up in a folk choir, and tells us (one version of) th...

Voices of Our Grandmothers with guest Tamar Buadze and interpreter Zoé Perret. Kicking off series 2, innovative choir conductor Tamar Buadze tells the surprising tale of how she came to work with Laz songs, while living in Rustavi (far, far away from Laz regions in Georgia and Turkey). One of her former students tells us what it was like to grow up in a folk choir, and tells us (one version of) th...

In this episode, our friend Jen Morris takes over the role of interviewer. She speaks with Briget Boyle, vocal coach and singer with Balkan Women's ensemble @kitka, bringing the west coast USA perspective to ‘Voices of the Ancestors’. They chat about:- working with powerful female teachers like Tamar Buadze, in Georgia and Svetlana Spajić in Serbia. How to sing ‘folk music’ from a grounded, rooted...

In the final episode of series 1, Susan and Holly take you on a whistle-stop tour of their recent encounters. First we meet Tamar Buadze in Rustavi where she's started an open-air community singing initiative. After Rustavi, join your hosts in Shilda where they unearth the start of a fascinating story linking the women’s ensemble Nelkarisi with Magda Kevlishvili from Mtiebi and Sagalobeli a pleadi...

Meet 17 year old Khatia, who lives 700 metres above sea level in the singing village of Merisi in Ajara, West Georgia. Despite being 2 hours from the nearest city, Khatia is not cut off - She has friends all over the world who have come to learn songs from her family - from Melbourne Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, UK and beyond. Hear how she was finally convinced to join in...

Georgian musician and ethnomusicologist Nana Mzhavanadze was born into a musical family. She says her future was predicted by her grandmother:- “when I was bought from the maternity house, my grandmother met me at the door, that was the first thing that she did, she put me on the piano and she said she is going to be a musician.” This episode is a significant event for their family, as it brought...

An audio journey through the mountains of high Adjara, following ensemble Ialoni as they film for the American Library of Congress. The Ialoni Homegrown Concert is available for free on The American Folklife Center youtube channel. Youtube link: https://youtu.be/CU7KO28QDDk Holly and Susan chat about the trip from Tbilisi to Shuakhevi and beyond. After walking through snow, Susan meets with elders...

How did the Summer Song Festival with Katie Melua come about? How are Georgian 'Shairebi' like Rap? How do the very young learn to sing 'in voices'? We talk about passing on the flame with Tamara Vepkhvadze, founder of Gonieri Georgian Art Studio in North London. She has taught at the First Georgian Supplementary School in the UK and trained as a puppeteer at the Little Angel Theatre. She now live...

What was the first Georgian song taught in the UK, and how did it come about? How can Georgian songs be used in theatre and ensemble training? And just how many songs are in the book 99 Georgian songs? Joan Mills, Voice Director at the Centre for Performance Research (https://thecpr.org.uk/), talks about tending the flame of living traditions - influenced by her recent interview of Sam Lee (https:...

Magda, leader of Amer-Imeri children's ensemble and co-leader of ensemble Mtiebi, tells us about the ancient tradition of Alilo, which was revived by her father-in-law, Edisher Garakanidze. Voices of the Ancestors by Holly Taylor-Zuntz and Susan Thompson. For more information, and to see the transcript of this episode, visit www.voicesoftheancestors.co.uk If you enjoyed this episode, why not buy t...

We take New Years as an opportunity to reflect on the highlights and lowlights of 2020, what and who we are grateful for, and what we are looking forward to in 2021. We were joined on zoom by two of our past guests, Jen Morris and Nino Naneishvili, as well as some of our community of listeners. Everyone came up with suggestions for attracting sponsors to create a sustainable podcast. So many ideas...

How did french singer, instrumentalist and teacher Zoé become so entwined with Georgian songs? "So for the first couple of years, I think, I was listening only exclusively to old Georgian folk songs. And you know, even though you are not born in the country, I think, if you listen to it constantly, then you, in the end, kind of get the feeling that there is something that sounds natural or not nat...

"It's one of the most valuable feelings, when your ancestor, your old generation hears his own songs. And when you perform it in your variation, improvisation and when they are happy. It's I think the biggest gift a performer can feel." Nino Naneishvili, ethnomusicologist and musical director of women's ensemble Ialoni (https://ialoni.com/en/) tells us how she collected a healing song from a tiger...

Ever wondered what the difference between a city song and folk song is? Or how songs vary through the different regions of Georgia? Jenny, singer with choirs Maspindzeli and Chela in the UK, takes you on a whistle-stop tour of Georgian singing, while telling tales of traveling in Tusheti and Svaneti and hosting Gigi Garakanidze in the UK. Support the podcast on patreon https://www.patreon.com/voic...

Seattle Georgian singer Jen Morris speaks about her experience of lockdown, and how she has found community through fellow Georgian singers around the world. Voices of the Ancestors by Holly Taylor-Zuntz and Susan Thompson. For more information, and to see the transcript of this episode, visit voicesoftheancestors.co.uk. Support the podcast at:- https://ko-fi.com/voicesoftheancestors https://www.p...

What is an ancestor? What is a podcast? Why are you listening to this? These questions may or may not be answered as Susan and Holly have a playful, spontaneous, unscripted chat about their hopes for the project. Voices of the Ancestors by Holly Taylor-Zuntz and Susan Thompson. For more information, and to see the transcript of this episode, visit voicesoftheancestors.co.uk Support the podcast at:...

The podcast about Georgian polyphonic songs and the women who sing them. Launching 21st October 2020 at the International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony in Tbilisi Georgia. Support the podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/voicesoftheancestors https://ko-fi.com/voicesoftheancestors