With the sounds of Khoomei

One of the most interesting chamber concerts last week in Krasnoyarsk was a performance by the group “Alash” together with the khoomeizhi Radik Tyulyush.

The TUvan musicians gave two concerts in the tearoom “Yurta”.

This small place became a special type of venue in the concert life in this city. During the day, “Yurta” functions as a tearoom, where one can sample many exotic Siberian teas, and also to participate in tea ceremonies of many different nations.

Time from time, concerts of ethnic music are given here, which always bring their audience.

At the concert of the Tuvan musicians, literally an apple could not fall through the crowd – the listeners sat not only at the tables, but also on the floor, directly in front of the improvised stage.

And it is not surprising – the fans of ethnic music do not need to be told who are the “Alash” and Radik Tyulyush. Laureates of festivals “Sayan Ring” and “Ustuu-Khuree”, the young musicians are on tour practically all the time. And mostly in other countries – there is a great demand for ethnic music, and not only for asian music. As Radik Tyulyush believes, the first outburst of interest probably started as a fashion of eastern exoticism. But the “world music” direction has won its steady followers long ago.

Tuvan musicians are welcome guests there – they play in clubs, in stadiums. “Alash” came to Krasnoyarsk just after a successful tour in the USA and Canada. In Russia, over the past few years an increased interest in this musical direction can be also observed. Radik Tyulyush played for a long time with the group “Yat-Kha”, and the past three years with the no less cultic Tuvan group “Huun-Huur-Tu”. As he shared with us, in Russia he already had opportunities to perform with these groups not just in small spaces or festivals, but also in great halls – opera theatres and philharmonic concert halls. And always to a full house. He himself is a multi-istrumentalist, plays practically all Tuvan national instruments. But he does not refuse to experiment with his creativity – he plays guitar, and is learning bass-guitar, flute, block-flute. He learned the art of khoomei from his grandfather. In his words, in Tuva, these traditions are still widespread and deeply rooted in many families.

He has long had a friendly relationship with the group “Alash”, and about a year ago the musicians conceived the idea of a joint project. True, because of scheduling problems they do not often get a chance to perform together. So, you could say that Krasnoyarsk had an opportunity to hear a unique program. It consisted mostly of traditional Tuvan songs with original arrangements, more comprehensible to contemporary audience –more rhythmic, with beat. In some songs the musicians used a guitar, but with a somewhat different tuning, closer to Tuvan.