It has been a long journey for Sean Quirk from growing up in Whitefish Bay to living in Siberia.

It was music that brought him to the remote Russian republic of Tuva on the Siberian-Mongolian border. It is there that the people discovered how to make a special kind of music called throat singing in which the singer produces two musical notes at the same time.

A member of the throat singing band Alash, Quirk will be returning home to perform this unique music.

The first time Quirk heard this exotic music was when he was studying at MacAllister College in St. Paul, Minn. He was captivated.

"When I first heard it, I couldn't stop listening to it and immediately felt some kind of connection with the people who were singing," Quirk said. "After I started imitating it and got decent at it, I began to think that I had better go over there because it's something that requires respect and knowledge of the people whose special treasure it is."

Different way of life

Having a facility for languages, Quirk applied for and won a Fulbright scholarship enabling him to travel to Tuva to study its music and culture. To get the scholarship, Quirk had to teach himself Russian. And when he arrived, he learned the Tuvan language.

He had no idea what to expect from these descendants of the Mongol hordes. Tuva borders Mongolia and its fighters swelled the ranks of the army of Genghis Khan that swept Asia and eastern Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The empire stretched from east of Kiev to the Sea of Japan and included North and South Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.

One of Genghis Khan's top generals, Subudai, was from Tuva.

Eight centuries later, Quirk found that the descendants of the army of Genghis Khan have much to teach.

"There is a good way of unhurriedness," he said. "And a more frank and realistic way of looking at life in a lot of ways, and not getting worried about things that don't matter."

While he lives in an apartment in the capital city of Kyzyl, a city of 90,000, many Tuvan people still make their living raising animals and living in yurts, light round tents of skins or felt stretched over a lattice framework and used by pastoral peoples of inner Asia.

Using the Internet to connect

Quirk has made a living touring in concert Alash. He also is a guide and translator for scholars who visit Tuva to learn more about its music and culture. And beyond that, Quirk met and married a young Tuvan woman. The couple just had their first child a month ago.

For his mom and dad, it was tough to see him go to such a far away land where the landscape resembles New Mexico. In summer it reaches a burning 100 degrees while winters are bone chilling. It doesn't have much snow because it is so dry.

The Internet has kept the family close, and mom and dad, Kathleen and Brian Quirk, saw a cell phone picture of their Siberian granddaughter when she was only 40 minutes old.

But Kathy smiled when she said it would be nice to have their wandering son closer.

"You can't do hugs virtually," she said.

Even their son's wedding was at a distance. His mom and dad could not make it, but once again technology came to the rescue. Across 13 time zones, Kathy and Brian heard themselves being toasted at the afternoon wedding reception. In Whitefish Bay, it was 2:30 a.m.

Kathy said she is glad that he is doing what he enjoys, but like any mother she worries about health care.

She said, "As a parent, you're thinking, why doesn't he get a 40-hour-a-week job with benefits."

Not a technique

Alash, which toured the United States in 2006 for the first time, has performed throughout Russia and Europe. And Sean thoroughly enjoys bringing the group's musical "treasure" to audiences.

"They are touched deeply somewhere. I love to watch them during the concert, their reaction - pure amazement, pure enjoyment," he said. "They feel it is powerful music."

Asked how to do throat singing, he said the main thing is not even technique, it is understanding the philosophy and the language and having it come from a true place inside of yourself.

Sean's adventures have broadened his mom's and dad's horizons as they have welcomed Alash and other Tuvan musical ensembles into their home.

"The fascinating thing to me and my husband is that we had never heard of this place and now we know people from there," she said.

Some homesickness

While content, Sean misses many things from his Whitefish Bay home, in addition to family and friends.

"Sunday barbecuing of brats and Packers games with family and friends. What a pleasant ritual that was, sitting around with Mike and Mikey and Geoff and yelling at the TV screen. Ditto Brewers games," Sean said. "The thing I miss the most is probably the lake."