Alash Ensemble - Contact Information

16 February 2008

Dear Friends,

Our 2008 US Winter Tour was a whirlwind. We are happy to report that we made a lot of new friends and met up with a large number of our valued old friends from previous tours.

We landed in New York on the night of January 10th, and rested peacefully at Magda's house in preparation for three weeks of non-stop touring.

The next night, we were the guests of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Student Producers program. We not only played the fine music of Alash, but we collaborated with the Chamber Music Society's professional string quartet, CMS-2. The two ensembles performed jointly on three pieces. Two of them, "Agitator" and "Tooruktug Dolgai Tangdym," were traditional Tuvan pieces, and the third was Amazing Grace. Tooruktug is the national anthem of Tuva, and Agitator is a song from the early Soviet period praising the heroism and truth of the Communist Agitator. They were arranged by the artistic director of the Tuvan National Orchestra, Ayana Samiyaevna Mongush. Amazing Grace featured renditions of the traditional melody by both the string quartet and the voices of Alash.

Next night we played two packed sets at Barbès in Brooklyn, home of our solid friend Olivier and a lot of fine music all the time in Park Slope. Our music especially shines in the intimate setting of Barbès, where amplification is not needed.

Next day we rolled up to North Bennington, VT, and Matthew Perry at Vermont Arts Exchange. They've been supporters of Alash since the very first concert of our very first tour and we get back there as much as possible. Each year the concerts get better and better, and we enjoy the folks there so much. Elizabeth Peters loaned us her GPS, which made Alash the least lost band of 2008. A gift beyond value for the modern nomad! We visited Pownal School next day, home of Principal Joy and a joyful way to begin the educational part of our tour.

On the 15th we headed to Putney, VT, and the Greenwood School, home of the Peters Boys. They have an excellent electric fiddle playing music teacher, Derek, and kudos to his students for their fine rendition of Rock n' Roll. That very night it was on to Springfield, where we were reunited with John and with Cynthia, a librarian at Park Street School who was instrumental in bringing us there last year.

This year we were in for a surprise. Not only was there a display of student art showing models of yurts, igils, and real felt, but there were several young boys who had taught themselves to throat sing. Not only that, but we had one of the most memorable moments of any tour that afternoon when we were serenaded by the ENTIRE Park Street School to the tune of "Ene-Sai," with the kids singing off of a phonetic transcription, and Cynthia and John on guitar and igil. Next day we visited the High School in Springfield, where we reunited with our old friend, Russian teacher Ms. Ballou, and had a fine day with the students. That night we drove up to Dobrá Tea in Burlington, where we were kindly accommodated by Matthew at the tea house and Mark from the Young Tradition Festival that we played in last year. One of these days we'd like to get up there when the weather's good!

Next Day we drove from Burlington down to Boston and visited our amigo Gill at Lily Pad, a fine space in Cambridge where our audience got a special treat -- an acoustic concert in the round! We also met up with important historical figures, such as Dan S. and Sean H., and Brendan L. and Milo "Jimmy" Silva. Greg S. provided a comfy home to lodge in the JP neighborhood.

We spent the next two days in Framingham, west of Boston, where we played at the Amazing Things Arts Center under the direction of the superb Michael Moran. They are starting to move into their Firehouse, where we found the audience quite lively. Next day we played at a fundraiser for them and Michael hosted our viewing of the NFC championship game, which was an unpleasant time for Alash members from Wisconsin.

That Monday we held a workshop in Jamaica Plain, hosted by the HeARTbeat Collective. The students were of all levels of throat singing proficiency, but some of them quite impressed us. A lot of people made good progress or got their feet on the path to singin', and everybody enjoyed it. Most people who came for the first session stuck around for the second. Bonnie R. is the mastermind behind all this, she of the healing hands.

On Tuesday we drove down to New Haven where we were hosted by Naftali Schindler, a composition graduate student at Yale who astounded us with a beautiful piano rendition of "Chaghatai." He did a great job getting funding from The Council of East Asian Studies for a free concert. The Slifka Center, which is not small by any means, was filled to overflowing. We were also hosted by the Chai Society and were warmed by their sharing of hospitality and their culture.

Next day it was back up to Boston to the New England Conservatory, where we visited a class music theory class prior to our 90 plus minute lecture-concert at the Intercultural Institute, which is run by professor Bob Labaree. We again had a full house, and we want to thank the Conservatory for giving us an opportunity to delve more deeply into some of the interesting facets of Tuvan music. We had a fine Q&A at the end as well.

On Thursday we made the pilgrimage to Maine, a state we have never been to before. We were awed by its beauty and its size, not to mention the hospitality of its inhabitants, in particular our host Mr. Ed Michaud, the music teacher at Pemetic School in Southwest Harbor. Mr. Michaud's music room was transformed into a veritable "Tuvarium" when we arrived, featuring many items of Tuvinica such as books, posters, pictures, albums, and Tuvan items to complement Mr. Michaud's longstanding and musically appreciative relationship with the music. We were pleased to provide his students with a real example of Tuvan music and to give them a chance to converse and interact with the musicians on an interpersonal level, a real cultural exchange.

We played that night at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, where we were gifted with an Ali Farka Touré album by Zach, the excellent soundman. The next night we played at the Grand Theater in Ellsworth under the direction of Jack La Fond. Both nights the audiences were receptive and enthusiastic. The Grand is a pretty big hall but most of the tickets were sold out, the sound was great and everyone agreed it had been a fine experience. We also met Hawk Henries, a Nipmuc flute player and maker who gifted the band with a murgu and limpi inspired by the pictures on our website, and Dr. Wayne Smith, a language expert who has turned his eye upon Tuvan. Both fine fellows.

We then drove down to Bellows Falls where we met up with Cynthia and John again and had a fine concert at the Bellows Falls Opera House. This was an excellent place to perform and we again had a unique experience. Josh and Colin, two of the throat-singing boys from Park Street, came up on stage and led the audience in a sing along of Aa-Shu-Dekei-oo with Alash.

Next day we drove down to NYC to play at Banjo Jim's, where the place was again overflowing with people and enthusiasm for the music. We lucked out when a dude named Danny let us park in his special fenced in lot, for no good reason. Thanks to Richard Ogust there, who provided coffee for the long drive back up to Hanover, NH that night.

Up in Hanover we had the pleasure of being guests at Ted Levin's Silk Road class at Dartmouth. Anyone who is reading this letter is probably aware that Ted Levin is the American who helped pave the way for interaction between the United States and Tuva, originally producing Huun-Huur-Tu in the early 90s. Having made the trip to Tuva in 1987, Ted was one of the first American researchers, and the first musicologist, to visit. His book, Where Rivers and Mountains Sing, which is written with Valentina Süzükei, is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the deeper workings of Tuvan music and its development over the last century.

We demonstrated yurt construction for some of Ted's class, going through the first few steps of putting up a yurt though we didn't have enough time to put up the whole thing. We had a good visit with the class, playing the music of Alash for the students and involving them in a discussion featuring two of the most knowledgeable people in the US as far as Tuvan music is concerned.

Next day it was back down I-91 headed to Philadelphia, home of the Extra Special Terrestrial Guests. The Guests are our stage buddies stemming from the first meeting in 2003 of Alash and the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen, octogenarian jazz legend. After a 2004 visit by the Arkestra to Tuva, friendships were cemented and Alash has since shared the stage several times in the US with the Guests, who feature members of the Arkestra and other local avant-garde jazz legends including Elliott Levin. We were hosted again by Gina R. at the Rotunda, and once again the Rotunda was packed, and once again Alash jammed with the Guests at the end, and once again the jam got even better. Continue to look for further collaborations!

After a night at band big brother Dave Davis' place, we headed up to upstate New York, where we played first at beautiful Wells College in Aurora, and then had a presentation and concert the following two nights at Cornell in Ithaca. There we were hosted by the mythical GL2000 as well David Pat, Dr. of Tibetan. Cornell is another one of those adopted homelands for us and we were happy to be winding up our tour in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region.

The last night of the tour we played at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York. Truly a beautiful place, CoSM showcases the work of renowned artist Alex Grey, which really deserves a much longer period of contemplation than we had before sound check. But the concert was a reunion of many good old and new friends -- MB, Magda, Marcin, Masha P., Nikita and Susan, Seth of the banjo strings, Liz B., and others. It was a fitting environment to make our farewell to the US for the moment.

And just like that, the tour was over. A night at Magda's, the Green Night as they say in Polish, and back to Tuva in time to preform with the Tuvan National Orchestra on Shagaa (Tuvan New Year). Look forward to more news about the orchestra coming soon.

Thanks very much to everybody for helping and we look forward to seeing everyone once again.

'Til next time.

Alash