MUSIC:

Zedashe Eastern music

MONTPELIER – The Zedashe Ensemble, from the Medieval walled city of Sighnaghi in eastern Georgia, will perform on Friday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m., at Union Elementary School Auditorium. 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 four men and three 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 chunir (Svan bowed lute), panduri (Kakhetian lute), chonguri (Gurian lute), doli (drum), chiboni (goat-skin bagpipes), and accordion. The singers are joined by two virtuosic solo dancers, Eka Taralashvili and Erekli Kanchurashvili, who show off the intricate footwork and gestures of varied traditional Georgian dance styles, both lyric and martial.

Village Harmony Admission is $15, $10 for students and seniors, at the door.
For more information, call (802) 426-3210 or go online to www.villageharmony.org