Georgian Traditional Music & Dance Concert with Zedashe Ensemble
LOCATION: The Randolph County Community Arts Center (2 Park Street, Elkins, WV 26241)
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 2024
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $15 at the door
Enjoy an incredible concert of music and dance with a world-touring Georgian traditional music and dance ensemble. This may very well be the first time a Georgian singing group has visited Elkins, WV! Let’s show them what West Virginian hospitality looks like!
This project is made possible with direct support from the Mid Atlantic Arts Special Presenter Initiative.
ABOUT ZEDASHE:
Mountainous Caucasus Georgia, situated on historic crossroads on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, has one of the world’s most ancient and arresting three-part harmony-singing traditions. The music features a dark, sonorous vocal quality and startling, unexpected harmonies. Directed by Ketevan Mindorashvili, Zedashe was founded in the mid 1990s to sing repertoire largely lost during the Communist era.
With both men and women singers, Zedashe is one of the few mixed gender performing ensembles in Georgia today and they have developed a highly distinctive sound. Their repertoire includes ancient three-part harmony chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy, as well as the full range of folk song genres including field-songs, love songs, historical ballads, war dance songs, and ritual circle dances. The latter are sometimes accompanied by the panduri (Kakhetian lute), chonguri (Gurian lute), doli (drum), chiboni (goat-skin bagpipe), and garmoni (Georgian accordion).
The singers are joined by two virtuosic solo dancers who show off the intricate footwork and gestures of varied traditional Georgian dance styles, both lyric and martial.
With her rich and flexible, low contralto voice, Ketevan Mindorashvili has won a wide reputation for her mastery of the intricate, melismatic ornamentation of the traditional songs from her native region of Kakheti. The Ensemble also sings repertoire from other regions of Georgia, in many cases collected first hand from old singing masters, pre-communist publications, or field recordings.
The group’s name is taken from the special earthenware jugs — zedashe — that were buried under the family home for the purpose of making wine. The wine made in a zedashe was especially for the veneration of ancestors and the tapping of the zedashe every year carried great ritual significance.
Besides numerous appearances throughout the Republic of Georgia, Zedashe has toured internationally with appearances at major festivals and universities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Latvia, and the United States. This is Zedashe’s fifth US tour and is again being sponsored by the world music umbrella organization Village Harmony.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the incredible music of Georgia!
For Zedashe’s complete itinerary or for more information about the ensemble go to www.zedashe.com.