The igil is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate. The strings, and those of the bow, are traditionally made of hair from a horse's tail, but may also be made of nylon. Like the morin khuur of Mongolia, the igil typically features a carved horse's head at the top of the neck above the tuning pegs, and both instruments are known as the horsehead fiddle.
Kongar-ool Borisovich Ondar was a master Soviet and Russian Tuvan throat singer and a member of the Great Khural of Tuva. Ondar was born near the Khemchik River in western Tuva, in the village of Iyme. In the Central Asian tradition of self-fulfilling child naming, Kongar-ool literally translates to "loud boy." In 1983 Ondar was drafted into the army, but was discharged due to a neck injury. After, he served several years in prison in Siberia. In 1992, after his release, Ondar won an international throat-singing contest, which brought invitations to perform in Europe and the United States and began his singing career.
Tuva is a part of Russia, inhabited by a Turkic people. Tuvans are known abroad for khoomei (xöömej), a kind of overtone singing.
Huun-Huur-Tu are a music group from Tuva, a Russian federative republic situated on the Mongolia–Russia border. Their music includes throat singing, in which the singers sing both a note and its overtones, thus producing two or three notes simultaneously. The overtone may sound like a flute, whistle or bird, but is solely a product of the human voice.
Albert Budachievich Kuvezin is a Tuvan guitarist and throat singer.
Chirgilchin, meaning "dance of the air in the heat of the day" or "miracle" in Tuvan, is a group of Tuvan musicians performing traditional Tuvan music. It was established in 1996.
The ensemble Alash is a throat singing band from Tuva, Russia, that performs traditional Tuvan music with some non-traditional influences.
Zoellner Arts Center is an arts center located on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It opened in 1997, having been endowed by a $6 million gift from Robert Zoellner ('54) and his wife Victoria.
Trefor Goronwy is a vocalist, bass guitarist, guitarist, and percussionist. He joined This Heat for their final European tour in 1982, and continued to work with drummer Charles Hayward and soundman Stephen Rickard in the group Camberwell Now. He has also worked as a sound technician with groups such as Pere Ubu, Towering Inferno, David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, Spearmint, Momus and the Tuvan throat-singing ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu, whose first album he recorded in London. After several years spent in Russia, he has recently been working on recordings featuring Tuvan and Kazakh traditional instruments, particularly the igil and kobyz.
Tuvan throat singing, the main technique of which is known as khoomei, includes a type of overtone singing practiced by people in Tuva, Mongolia, and Siberia. In 2009, it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO. The term hömey / kömey means throat and larynx in different Turkic languages. That could be borrowed from Mongolian khooloi, which means throat as well, driven from Proto-Mongolian word *koɣul-aj.
The Tuvan National Orchestra reflects the complex history of the Republic of Tuva, a federal subject of Russia which sits at the southern edge of Siberia, with Mongolia to its south. Over the centuries, Tuva has been part of Chinese and Mongolian empires, and shares many cultural ties with Mongolia. In 1944 it joined the Soviet Union, and Tuva is now a constituent republic of the Russian Federation.
Early Music is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing 21 compositions, many of which were written, arranged, or transcribed for the quartet. The subtitle is from Dowland's Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares of 1604.
Sholban Valeryevich Kara-ool is a Russian politician of Tuvan ethnic origins. He was the Head of the Republic of Tuva, a Russian region.
Sergey Nikolaevich Starostin is a Russian folk and jazz composer and performer, famous for his modern interpretations of archaic Russian folk music. In his compositions, he sings, plays folk flutes, reed instruments and gusli.
Aldyn-ool Takashovich Sevek was a master Tuvan throat singer.
Bahamut is the debut album by American blues/folk/world music/jazz band Hazmat Modine. The album was released on August 26, 2006 by Barbès Records. Most tracks were composed by lead singer Wade Schuman; the album also includes arrangements of traditional songs. Tuvan folk band Huun-Huur-Tu feature on three tracks with their characteristic throat singing.
Soriah is an American overtone singer, performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and shamanic ritualist headquartered in Portland, Oregon and The Tuvan Republic. His music is a synthesis of traditional forms such as Tuvan throat singing, Shamanic music, Raga, and pre-Columbian Mexica music and language; with avant garde musical styles like Industrial, Ambient, Noise, and Goth. Likewise, his live performance is a fusion of costume and ritual from Tuva, Mexico, North American Native cultures, and Western Ceremonial Magic traditions; as well as chaos magic, butoh, and modern primitive movements of the 20th century. His lyrics, when there are any, are often written in the Nahuatl or traditional Tuvan languages. He won the title of "Best Foreigner" at the 2008 Ustuu-Khuree Festival in Chadanaa Tuva, and in that same year placed as "Third Laureate" at The International Throat Singing Symposium, which remains the highest award given to a non-Tuvan in the history of the Symposium. He also won 2nd Place in the Tuvan Nation Kargyraa Competition in 2014, was given a special award as "Great innovator of the art of Tuvan Throat Singing" in 2016, and won Best Kargyraa Performance at the Khoomei in the Center of Asia Festival 2019. As a solo artist, and with various collaborators and musical ensembles, Soriah has toured throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Mexico. He is considered the highest-ranked non-native practitioner of Tuvan throat singing.
Vladislav Tovarishchtayovich Khovalyg is a Russian politician of Tuvan origin, who is currently the 3rd Head of the Republic of Tuva since 7 April 2021. He is a member of the United Russia party.
The Orphan's Lament is an album by the Tuvan musical group Huun-Huur-Tu. It was released in 1994. The group supported the album with a North American tour.
