Georgian Harmony Association

Welcome to the Georgian Harmony Association website! This organisation has been promoting Georgian folk music events since 1998.

“When we as Georgians open our mouths to sing, our eyes are already searching for other voices to join. Within our music- making, the separation, loneliness and isolation of our complex modern day existence has no place. Only our love belongs here. Through this cherished vein, we Georgians carry all that we hold dear. The bloodline of our ancestors. The heartbeat of our nation. The secrets of our immortality. It will be my honour to share our songs with you.”

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I regret that Peter Nasmyth's calendar for 2020 with the theme "THE ART IN ITS LANDSCAPE" (above) is no longer available. Peter is currently in Georgia producing the 2021 calendar, which this year will be in aid of the Georgian National Trust, which he co-founded. This is a very worthwhile organisation which has already achieved success in saving some beautiful traditional buildings in Georgia from demolition or modernisation. You can find details of its work here:

http://www.nationaltrustofgeorgia.org.ge/

The calendar has been delayed due to this year's difficulties but should be available by mid or late November. I will update this site with details of prices etc. when I have them, but in the meantime, due to the transportation situation, it would be very useful to have an approximate idea of how many you may want. So if you would like me to reserve one or more calendars for you, please send an email to:

info[at]georgianharmony.org.uk

and let me know how many you would like. I would emphasise this is not a commitment to buy, and you are welcome to change your mind later. I will also ensure I have some extras for late orders.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Georgian singing together in physical space has sadly been on hold for the past few months, but that hasn't stopped a flourish of online activity.

Invitation to On-Line Launch of "Voices of the Ancestors" Podcast with Special Guest Magda Kevlishvili

Susan Thompson and Holly Taylor have launched a new Georgian Polyphonic Singing project "Voices of the Ancestors". It's about the ancient songs of Georgia and the women who sing them. It will consist of Podcasts, in which you'll be hearing stories from singers around the world who have fallen in love with these mysterious harmonies. The official launch is taking place in the form of a Podcast online at the Giorgi Garaqanidze International Festival of Folk and Church Music in Batumi, Georgia, on Thursday 5th November at 13:00 GMT/UTC in UK, 17:00 in Georgia. It features an interview with Jenny Barrett, a singer based in Cambridge UK. If you would like to attend, please join us on zoom:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3403262970?pwd=ZkdiTkkwU0FiUGd6NDBFYWI2ZjBNUT09

You can listen and subscribe on their website:

http://voicesoftheancestors.co.uk/

There's a taster of the podcast on the website and if you cannot attend on November 5th, don't worry, the podcast will be available to listen to and download at your leisure. The first episode, the project launch at the 2020 Tbilisi Symposium on Polyphony, is already on the website.
Please help us spread the word about this new project promoting Georgian culture!

ONLINE WORKSHOP WITH MALKHAZ ERKVANIDZE, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14TH 2020

Louise Moroni writes from Dublin:

"Dear Friends, Unfortunately due to the pandemic, Malkhaz was unable to travel for his annual UK and ROI workshops. However, Malkhaz is VERY excited at the possibility of hosting an online workshop on Saturday November 14th This is will be the first time for Malkhaz to facilitate an online singing workshop for international participants. In recent months Malkhaz, like most of us has been teaching his Georgian students online so this experience has lead to the decision to structure the workshop in a way that ensures participants can remain engaged and joyful! With that in mind, the workshop will begin at 10 am on Saturday the 14th of November. At 12 midday there will be a two hour break to allow participants to rest, digest the material covered and also to allow for some break out interaction between participants. At 14:00 the second session will, begin and will run until 16:00. Participants will need to ensure that they have a reliable internet connection. All materials for the day, and link to the online workshop will be provided to participants upon registration. Singing online has its limitations and there have been many enthusiasts who have spent a lot of time over the last few months trying to push the limits to their limits! For those of you who have not tried singing meet ups online, I am very happy to answer any questions about how things will go in an online environment. To register please email (Louise) at zurmukhti[at]yahoo.ie. The Cost for the workshop is 50 Euros.

Please feel free to share this announcement with anyone that you think might be interested. However, there will be limited spaces available to allow or technical limitations such as limited screen views etc. so please be sure to respond ASAP. Looking forward to hearing from you soon - and a big hello from Malkhaz to all."

MUST-SEE ONLINE CONCERT FROM THE TBILISI SYMPOSIUM

The biennial Symposium on Polyphony went online this year and a member of the Melbourne Georgian Choir in Australia, Roger King, had the brilliant idea of creating an online concert from videos of choirs around the world. It is beautifully and imaginatively created and well worth spending an hour watching. The pandemic even spawned three new online choirs: Coronas Kvartetti, Zoomis Sopeli (village) and Nino Naneishvili's online workshop group. You can find the concert here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HDyzR9pO64

ONLINE SINGING WORKSHOPS WITH NINO NANEISHVILI

During the coronavirus period the Georgian singing teacher and choir leader Nino Naneishvili is leading a series of online themed Georgian singing workshops using ZOOM on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 3 pm Georgian time which is 11 am. GMT (UTC). Each workshop lasts 2 hours and costs $10, except for workshops with other teachers which are $18. Here are the dates and subjects for November 2020:

31 October-1 November: Megrelian and Gurian music with local performers
7-8 November: Kakhetian folk music
14-15 November: Tushetian music with local performers
21-22 November: Imeretian music from archive recordings
28-29 November: Lechkhumian and Svanian music

*** Nino's dates and subjects are now also on her website. You can find details here :

https://ialoni.com/show/georgian-singing-zoom-workshops-with-nino-naneishvili-local-performers/

Nino is also offering small group meetings for more experienced participants or ensemble members who want to try more improvised songs or just learn faster in a trio (3 participants). These meetings will be on Friday evenings at 5 and at 6 pm Georgian time (2 and 3 pm BST). The duration of each trio meeting will be 45 minutes and the price is $15.

For sending money Nino asks you to use transferwise. com. Please contact Nino for further information and her bank account details. When you have sent her the fee she will send the ZOOM link address. Her email is : ninonaneishvili[at]gmail.com. Nino has been to the UK several times for workshop tours and has brought her choir IALONI over for a concert tour. For further details and to hear performance examples please go to : http://ialoni.com/en/home/

I hope you enjoy these workshops, which will keep Georgian singing going at this difficult time as well as providing support for Nino and her choir.

SINGING HOLIDAYS IN GEORGIA 2020

Due to coronavirus the singing holidays planned for 2020 were cancelled but it is hoped the programme can resume in 2021. Details will be posted here when available.

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Following the sad death of Gigi Garakanidze in 2012 at the tragically early age of 30, his choir MTIEBI and youth choir AMER-IMERI are going strong and developing new material, led by his wife Magda (Kevlishvili) and other choir members. Gigi's father Edisher was one of the first teachers to bring Georgian singing to this country, and it was he who introduced many of the songs we now sing. Tragically, Edisher died in a road accident in Georgia in 1998 together with his wife Nino and daughter Marika. Gigi was the only survivor but was badly injured, and this may well have contributed to his early death. After recovering in 1999 he re-formed Mtiebi with members of Edisher's youth choir Amer-Imeri as well as some of the older members of the original choir, and put into effect Edisher's vision of a folk theatre with songs sung in the context of the scenarios in which they are used in Georgia. Gigi came to the UK several times, both with Mtiebi and alone, and some of you may have seen their excellent performances or attended one of his workshops. Gigi and Magda's son Ilia was born on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2011. He is doing well and seems to have inherited the family's musical talent.

Gigi had not only a deep knowledge of Georgian song but a gentle and open spirit. He will be greatly missed both personally and for his great contribution to Georgian singing in Georgia and abroad. Here is a picture of Gigi and Magda taken when my wife Eliso and I visited them in September 2011, shortly before Ilia was born.

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(The GEORGIAN HARMONY ASSOCIATION was started by Michael Bloom in 1998, following Edisher Garakanidze's tragic death. This website is dedicated to Edisher's memory.)

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