From the vibrant folk culture of Georgia, come Mtiebi - a troupe of musicians who will thrill you with their harmony singing, music and dancing. Their performance shares an ancient tradition of earthy rural celebration bringing infectious delight to songs and dances showing all aspects of village life - harvest, growth, love, healing, community and oneness with the land.  Performed in three-part harmony, the polyphonic sound is often accompanied by instruments like the chonguri, a four stringed lyre from Mingrelia in the West, and the panduri, a three stringed lute from East Georgia.

The Mtiebi ensemble was founded by Edischer Garaqanidze, an ethnomusicologist who collected songs and dances from the ordinary people. An enlightened man, he named the choir Mtiebi which is the ancient word for Venus, meaning enlightener. Edischer Garaqanidze came to the United Kingdom with Mtiebi several times in the 1990s to perform and teach Georgian singing. He died tragically in a car crash in Tbilisi in 1998, but his enlightened work lives on through the people he taught and the new Mtiebi choir now led by his son Giorgi (Gigi) Garaqanidze.

MTIEBI vocal theatre ensemble: GEORGIAN SONG AND DANCE from the Caucasus.
Emmanuel  United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RR
Friday, 30 May 2008  8:00 pm
Tickets:     Door £10; Concessions £8
Promoter:  Talking in Tune  tel: 01223 353586
Email:        miranda.gray@ntlworld.com