Internationalisation of Georgian Traditional music in the UK

Friday 18 October 2024, 10am
St. Antony's College, University of Oxford

Attendance is free - no registration required.

Welcome to a one-day event dedicated to the practice and research of Georgian traditional music in the UK! The programme includes a Georgian polyphonic singing workshop, academic sessions, and an informal concert. This event marks 30 years since the historical workshops conducted by Georgian ethnomusicologists Edisher Garakanidze and Joseph Jordania in the UK.

Programme:

10:00 am-12:00 pm, Old Fellows Dining Room

Georgian traditional polyphonic singing workshop led by Magda Kevlishvili, head of the

‘’Mtiebi’’ and ‘’Amer-Imeri’’ folk groups.

Please consider bringing cash for tips.

 

14:00-16:00, Nissan Lecture Theater, Conference session 1:

1. Teona Lomsadze (University of Oxford, Tbilisi State Conservatoire): General Trends

of the Internationalisation Process of Georgian Music in the UK

2. Caroline Bithell (The University of Manchester): Georgian Polyphony and

Intercultural Performance: Finding Community in Song

3. Nana Mzhavanadze (Folklore State Center of Georgia, Tbilisi State Conservatoire):

Georgian Traditional Polyphony in the UK: Unpacking Social, Emotional, and

Musical Dimensions

4. Frank Kane (Voice Teacher): Vocal Pedagogy Based on Georgian Folk Singing: My

Experiences in the UK and Elsewhere

 

16:00-16:30: Coffee Break

16:30-17:45, Nissan Lecture Theater, Conference Session 2:

1. Magda Kevlishvili (Edisher and Gigi Garakanidze Mtiebi Ethnomusic Theatre):

The Garakanidze Family Legacy in the UK

2. Joan Mills (The Center for Performance Research):

Doorways to the Lives of Others: The Emergence of Georgian Folk Music in the UK

3. Susan Thompson and Holly Taylor-Zuntz (Voices of the Ancestors podcast):

Bringing Georgian Songs and Stories to a Global Audience

4. Sandro Shar (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance):

Musical Bilingualism: Integrating Georgian Musical Thinking into Western Contexts

 

18:00-18:45, Old Fellows Dining Room

Informal concert of Georgian traditional singing, featuring ensemble ‘’Maspindzeli,“ trio ‘’Dyonisia“ and ‘’Georgian trio.“

 

The event is convened by Teona Lomsadze, Georgian Studies Fellow at the University of Oxford. It is supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, in partnership with the Georgian Programme at the Oxford School of Global and Area Sutides (OSGA) at the University of Oxford.