Music is truly the universal language! I love meeting musicians from around the world and hearing various styles of music! Thanks to a local organization called Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, we have artists from around the world come to our school each year. Not only do they perform for our students, but on a larger scale in our local community as well.

This year, “Alash” were our guest musicians at Parkview Primary and Intermediate Schools. They come from the Siberian country of Tuva which is near India, Mongolia, and Russia.

“Alash” performed many Tuvan folk songs and original songs for our students. Each musician in Alash have mastered the art of “throat singing” or “overtone singing”. The singer sings one fundamental pitch, and one or more pitches over the fundamental pitch at the same time. It is truly a unique form of singing and takes a lot of practice to master the art. Although the art of singing in this style was mainly practiced by male herders, females also “throat sing”. However, women were discouraged from “overtone singing”. Folklore warned that if women performed “throat singing, it would cause problems in childbirth or bring harm to male relatives.

This type of singing was started by herders which are common in Tuva, Monogolia, and surrounding areas. Herding cattle, sheep, goats, yak, reindeer, sheep, and camels has been a way of life for thousands of years in this part of the world. Families move from place to place, following their herds, season to season. They live in yurts, which are portable round tents covered with felt or animal skins. In the open landscape, sound carries and hence the art of “throat singing” was born. The sounds sung mimic sounds in nature such as birds or waterfalls. Cultural and historic stories are blended through songs and “throat singing”.

Here is a link to part of the Alash concert at our school.

I am glad that my students get an opportunity to become acquainted with people from other parts of the world each year. What a fantastic experience for children in southern Indiana to expand their horizons of experience with different music and cultures!

“I’d like to see the world for once, all standing hand in hand.
And hear them echo through the hills for peace throughout the land.
That’s the song I sing. What the world wants today.
That’s the way it will stay with the real thing – peace and love!
I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.
I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company!”
–Lyrics from “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” by Bill Backer, Billy Davis, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway