KITKA SOOTHES WSU WITH LULLABIES
By Linda East Brady
StandardNet
Jan 22 2010
Utah
Kitka, a women’s ensemble from San Francisco, has made its mark as
a group that performs songs from many Eastern European cultures.
Of course, Utah has its own strong musical culture.
Kitka’s members last visited Ogden, to teach and sing, three years
ago. They return to do both again on Saturday, which Kitka executive
director/performer Shira Cion is excited about.
"It was a fantastic audience," she said of the January 2007 show
sponsored, as is the upcoming show, by the department of cultural
affairs at Weber State University. "One of the things I really remember
is that we did a few choral workshops, and what an amazing singing
community you have in Ogden."
The group worked with students from high schools and colleges, as
well as a community chorus. Kitka will once again be working with
student vocal ensembles.
"The level of both the singing and the enthusiasm was so great,"
Cion added. "I don’t think of Ogden as being a hub of Eastern European
immigrants, but the openness to folk traditions and singing traditions
there is really second to none. There is such a taste for it and such
a knack for it."
Rock-a-bye
Kitka began in 1979 with a group of like-minded female singers who were
fascinated with the women chorales of Bulgaria. The musicians have
since expanded their repertoire to encompass a number of regions in
Eastern Europe and Russia, including Albania, Macedonia and Russian
Georgia.
The group has worked with master artists in America and Europe to
learn firsthand not only the craft of the songs, but the history of
the songs and the lands they came from as well.
Along with Cion, current members are Caitlin Austin, Leslie Bonnett,
Briget Boyle, Juliana Graffagna, Janet Kutulas, Elizabeth Setzer and
Lily Storm.
One of Kitka’s latest projects is collecting lullabies from these
cultures These are featured in the Ogden show and on the group’s
new album, "Cradle Songs." The CD comes with a companion lyric book,
so moms can learn to sing along.
"If I were to summarize it, I’d say these are some of the most primal,
elemental song forms. It is almost a way of casting a spell on a child,
wishing for a happy and prosperous life — a better life than that
of the parents."
Cion notes that some of the Georgian lullabies are especially ancient,
summoning the protection of pre-Christian goddesses over the child.
"They believed that the time between wakefulness and sleep was a
susceptible time for evil spirits. So those songs have a protective
incantation quality," she said.
A challenge of working with lullabies, said Cion, is that the songs
are naturally meant to be sung mostly alone — Mama soothing the baby.
That presents a puzzle of sorts when the same piece is performed by
an eight-part harmony group.
"With some of the songs, we just took those melodies as a starting
point, and then had to come up with creative ways of working with
the song with the full ensemble, and keeping its essence."
Culturally sensitive
It would seem that lullabies are as natural as mothering itself — who
doesn’t reach for soothing sounds to comfort a crying or wakeful baby?
But strangely, Bulgaria, the region that first captured Kitka’s
attention, seems to have few such folk tunes, according to Cion.
"We were kind of surprised that lullabies were kind of rare in
Bulgaria," she said. "There were some, but not the huge body like we
found in the Ukraine or Russia. We were kind of pressing our Bulgarian
contacts about this, and they said, more or less, ‘No reason for it —
we just sing any songs to them.’ But it struck us as very mysterious."
The Ogden show will also consists of favorites from Kitka — songs
about everyday life in different parts of the world. Many of these
lands have known centuries of strife, and Cion said that it is
one of the more delicate things to keep in mind about organizing a
successful set.
"In Kitka, we are very multicultural because, in part, we are
Americans," she said. "At most, our families have been here since
the 1600s. We are a society that moves around. We usually don’t have
quite the same sense of connection to the land that some of these
cultures do."
As an example, she says, it might not be wise to sing an Armenian
song next to a Turkish tune. Someone of Armenian heritage could take
umbrage, in light of what some call the Armenian genocide. Many
believe that 150,000 to 300,000 people perished under the rule of
the Ottoman empire in the early 20th century.
"It can be a tricky thing," Cion said. "We are sometimes shocked
by the biases and prejudices that people still hold. But we have to
remember — these people’s grandparents and great-grandparents were
terribly affected. We have to understand that when your family has
lived someplace for centuries upon centuries, there is a different
sense of attachment to the land."
But even as cultures change, are displaced and are lost, the songs
live on as a kind of female folk art, preserving history even when
war and other factors take their toll.
Said Cion: "Some of the most amazing singing I have heard — in
Bulgaria, in the Ukraine — is just people sitting around the kitchen
table, singing their hearts out, learning to cook a pumpkin recipe
as you sing a pumpkin harvest song. That is real music-making. The
cultures are fascinating, but the main thing is that, as music,
these songs stand on their own."
PREVIEW
* WHO: Kitka
* WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
* WHERE: Browning Center’s Austad Auditorium, Weber State University,
3848 Harrison Blvd., Ogden
* TICKETS: $12-$15, $10/student rush one hour before show if tickets
are available. For advance tickets, (800) WSU-TIKS
2010/01/21/kitka-soothes-wsu-lullabies.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
