Zedashe Ensemble: About Us
The Zedashe Ensemble is based in the medieval fortress city of Sighnaghi, Eastern Georgia, which has been home to the Kiziqian wine growers and warriors since ancient times. Directed by Ketevan Mindorashvili, the current incarnation of the ensemble was founded in the mid 1990s to sing repertoire largely lost during the Communist era. Their repertoire consists of ancient three-part harmony chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy, folk songs from the Kiziqian region as collected from village song-masters and old publications, and folk dances from the region.
The Zedashe Ensemble also sings repertoire from other regions in Georgia, particularly the high North-Eastern mountain province of Svanetia, where time seems to stand still and the traditional, non-tempered tunings of the old Georgians remain alive in current practice. Folk song genres include field-songs, love songs, historical ballads, war dance songs, and ritual circle dances, and are accompanied by the chunir (Svan lute), panduri (Kiziq lute), chonguri (Gurian lute), doli (drum), chiboni (goat-skin bagpipes), and accordion.
The group's name is taken from the special earthenware jugs — zedashes — that were buried under the family home for the purpose of making wine. The wine made in zedashes was especially for the veneration of ancestors and the tapping of the zedashe every year carried great ritual significance.
On tour for the second time in the United States, the Zedashe Ensemble greets old fans, and looks forward to making new ones. The group has performed in numerous folk festivals throughout Georgia, toured abroad in England and the United States, and has recorded four albums, including the Raising of Lazare (2002), and In the Footprints of Our Ancestors (2006), both of which are available for sale through the website of Village Harmony.
Biographies
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Ketevan Mindorashvili, director of the Zedashe ensemble, was raised in a traditional singing family in her home of Sighnaghi, eastern Georgia. She has become well known as a singer and teacher of Georgian folk music, particularly the fluid ornamentation of eastern folk songs. She has a deep knowledge church chant, and is a master of the panduri, a three stringed lute from the region. Ketevan is also a solo dancer in the Jleha dance troop based in Sighnaghi, and brings the Zedashe Ensemble on their second tour to the United States with a new repertoire of folk dances.
Shalva Mindorashvili was born and raised in Sighnaghi, where he is an English and Georgian language instructor. With his sister Ketevan, he is a cofounder of the Zedashe Ensemble. Shalva also dances in the Jleha dance troop, and has been involved in the revival of Orthodox liturgical music at nearby Bodbe Monastery.
Tamila Sulhanishvili is a piano teacher at the music institute in Sighnaghi, as well as the choir director at the local church of Saint George. She is an experienced workshop leader, and sings mostly first voice on church chants.
Shmagi Pirtskhelani is from the highland region of Svaneti, the second of eight siblings who were all raised singing and dancing traditional songs. Shmagi makes his permanent home in Sighnaghi, where he is an artisan, teacher and performer. He plays the panduri, chuniri (bowed viol), and chiboni (bagpipes).
Shergil Pirtskhelani also moved to Sighnaghi from Svaneti, after studying painting in the capital for two years. He directs a furniture design and build business in Sighnaghi, where he sings bass and second voice in the Zedashe Ensemble and performs with the Jleha dance troop. He plays panduri, chonguri (four string lute), and chuniri.
Betkil Pirtskhelani was born in 1984, into a family famous for singing and preserving ethnic highland culture in Latale, Georgia. He went to school in Latale and studied at the school for bards, which the famous singer Anzor Erkomaishvili founded. His teachers were Vakho and Islam Pilpani. He sang in the Svan choir "Riho" for one year, before moving to Sighnaghi, Georgia to join Zedashe. He is versatile and sings in many diverse Georgian regional styles, while truly being a master of Svan songs. Betkil is also master of sport in Judo.
Tamuna Beridze is a new member of the choir, a natural singer with a voice trained in eastern Georgian folk music. She has been a member of Tamila’s church choir since 2003, and sang top voice for Niko’s traveling school choir. She has joined this Zedashe this past year, and sings duets with Ketevan in their eastern Georgian repertoire of elegant, melismatic, and heroic ballad songs.
Eka Taralashvili was born in Sighnaghi, but her family comes from the remote highland region of Mtilueti, accessible only in summer months. She has been dancing highland dances with her family since a young age, and has been a laureate in numerous folk dancing festivals. Eka is a soloist in the Jleha dance troop, where she dances with her daughter Vika, and joins the Zedashe ensemble for this tour.
Erekle Kanchurashvili has been discovered by the Zedashe ensemble as one of the emerging best dancers of his generation in eastern Georgia. Erekle began dance training at age five under dance master Vano Chatncharauli, and has performed at folk festivals throughout Georgia. A recent addition to the Jleha dance troop, he joins the Zedashe tour where he will have a chance to showcase the incredible footwork of traditional martial and heroic dance from the Caucasus.