On Tuesday October 23, 2011 Frostburg State University was graced by the presence to the Alash Tuvan Throat Singers. They came to Frostburg through the World Artist Experience program travling around the world showcasing and sharing their talents. The Alash men are masters of Tuvan throat singing, which is a technique that usually takes a lifetime to master of singing multiple pitches at once. The Alash men are also masters of traditional Tuvan instruments consisting of wood, skin, and hair. Tuvan singing is a variant overtone singing practiced by the Tuva people in southern Siberia. The men names were Xoomei, Borbangnadyr, Kargyraa, and Ezennggileer who all have their own unique sound. The concert was held in the Performing Arts Center and very good amount of Frostburg community and Frostburg students were in attendance. The stage was lit up nice and bright with four chair aligned next to one another with different instruments each one uniquely different from one another. When they all came out they lined up next to one another and bowed to show respect towards the audience before they took a seat. The Tuvan singer did not speak English so they had a translator who translated different segments of the program so the audience knew exactly what and why they were playing certain songs.
When the men are singing their voices literally sounds like an actual instrument being played. It is unique, different, and wonderful at the same time. The Alash men are not your traditional singers such as Usher, Justin Beiber and Timberlake. NO! Their voice carry wordless sounds and vibration that only very few can only actual do and can take years to master, most of the Tuvan singers start from a very young age and do not master the throat singing until late adult hood. Some of the music they performed were folk music contributed to nomadic wave life and also animistic music which mean everything has a spirit to it. When performing they sang so effortlessly I looked as though they did not even move their mouths, but yet such a wonderful noise came out.
The Alash men are world recognized and even have won awards for their amazing skills. There songs are songs that come from the heart and carry meanings from working hard, dedication to reindeers and emotions towards their girlfriends and wives. Although they do not actually have words there voices carry so many different tones that each song sounds different and distinguished from one another you can tell when they were signing sorrowful songs versus happy and high energetic. The part that I really enjoyed was the fact they laughed in between the songs that were about girls back in the village. They are known to be feisty, but beautiful women.
The performance was amazing, and its not something that you see everyday. The performance was only an hour long, but so much history was learned in that little segment. From throat singing to the women in there village Tuvan music is more than just making multiple pitches at once, but it is story telling and about learning.
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