Kitka Brings ‚Powerful Women’s Voices, Joined Together‘ From East To Western
The Oakland ensemble Kitka has sung intricate harmonies from Eastern Europe for four decades. People Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins speak about the team’s brand new record record album, Evening celebrity.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
The daylight is dwindling away. The solstice comes on Friday. Therefore why don’t we pay attention to some songs that are warming Eastern Europe that celebrate the summer season upon us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, „MOMCI KOLEDARCI“)
KITKA LADIES‘ VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Performing in Bulgarian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The record album „star“ features harmonies unique to Balkan, Slavic and Caucasian lands evening. But here is the twist – they are offered up by Kitka, a vocal ensemble of numerous years standing situated in the bay area Bay Area. Shira Cion may be the team’s creative manager. She joins us from the studios of KQED. Welcome.
SHIRA CION: so excellent to be around, Lulu. Many thanks.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: additionally with us is Kelly Atkins. She actually is another Kitkat – i do believe that is exactly what you call yourselves, appropriate?
KELLY ATKINS: It Really Is, yes. Hi.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Hi. Shira, i’ll focus on you. You are quoted into the press records saying this music springs from a, quote, „instinct to get together and sing within the deep, dark heart of wintertime.“ I favor that, in addition. Performs this music help bring the body temperature up?
CION: they really think it most likely does. And it’s really been interesting. You understand, a lot of studies are actually being released about kind of the real and intellectual and social advantages of harmony performing and choral performing. And i believe all of the science is simply showing a thing that Eastern European villagers have actually recognized for hundreds of years, which will be that whenever times are tough, whenever climate conditions are cool, where simply surviving through a hard period actually calls upon communities in the future together, it really is a time to sing. And I also think performing does carry spirits. It does kind of synchronize our organisms together. I must say I do think it will help us endure through attempting times.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Kelly, that image associated with deep, dark heart of wintertime can be a metaphor, i suppose, for the type of music that this might be. Let me know exactly exactly what – just exactly how the truth is it.
ATKINS: Well, we additionally make use of the metaphor associated with rounds of life. A few of the tracks, while you probably noticed, from the record album are literally about cold weather. Plus some of those are in regards to the wintertime of life. Therefore we sort of see plenty of the tracks that individuals sing not merely in regards to the holiday breaks by themselves but concerning the cycles that individuals undergo within our very own everyday lives.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: let us tune in to a bit of the name track. It’s A bulgarian song – „Evening Star.“
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, „ZVEZDA VECERNICA“)
KITKA LADIES‘ VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Performing in Bulgarian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: i got eventually to inform you, it is like something profoundly ancient and thrumming. You understand, it comes down – it truly comes from this type of crucial spot. It truly does. It is amazing. Kelly, you are understood by me have history as an indie rocker. Exactly just What got you enthusiastic about Eastern European music that is vocal?
ATKINS: Well, the time that is first saw the Bulgarian Women’s Choir, I happened to be at Grace Cathedral. And I also sat within the pews and simply wept. And I also could not determine just what had been occurring if you ask me. Also it just rocked me personally on a really, extremely level that is deep. And so I think that has been my gateway medication, in the group as we call it. Just about everybody has our gateway drug of Bulgarian choir music.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter) Shira, individuals also can be amazed to find out that there is really numerous vocal teams right right here in the us devoted to Eastern music that is european. There Is Kitka. There is Planina located in Denver. There is the Yale Slavic Chorus, that has been around nearly 50 years. Exactly just What do you consider makes.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: . The songs so irresistible to feminine vocalists?
CION: Well, i do believe for the people of us whom I would personally say determine as liberal US feminists, there is one thing concerning the quality of effective women’s voices joined up with together in this very real, extremely harmony that is close often dissonant harmony designs that really attracts a modern American female sensibility.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED SONG that is KITKA
KITKA LADIES‘ VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (performing in spanish).
CION: And they are countries where work had been usually split by sex. And females had been familiar with producing in community and music that is creating in community. We had been really and truly just dealing with this within the greenroom previous today – just how most of us whom sing in Kitka are a lot more oriented in direction of kind of collective and harmony performing than individualistic, soloistic performing. And I think it kind of counters the kind of highly individualistic trend that America values a great deal. It’s, like.
CION: . Everybody else to.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The solamente musician.
CION: . Themself (ph).
CION: The solamente musician. And also this is actually a form that is communal can definitely only fly when there is a residential district of men and women taking part in it.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Why don’t we pay attention now up to A ukrainian carol from your record album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, „V HOSPODARON’KA“)
KITKA LADIES‘ VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Performing in Ukrainian).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: and this is obviously A ukrainian carol for New season’s. And also you really traveled here a bit back and met up having a group that is ukrainian. How about your other travels to execute in Eastern Europe? What is been the reaction from audiences?
ATKINS: we had been in Serbia about – ended up being it 5 years ago?
ATKINS: plus it ended up being my very first time with Kitka traveling abroad and performing music that is serbian Serbians. And I also genuinely had been stressed going. I happened to be thinking, who have always been We being A us to go and sing these songs right in front of the people where, you realize, they usually have these roots that are deep these tracks? However in reality, we had been gotten extremely warmly. Plus it really was an experience that is cathartic both the viewers as well as us.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: therefore, Kelly and Shira, this will be to you both. What is your favorite song regarding the record album?
CION: Oh, which is a difficult one.
CION: What you think about maybe „Blazentsv“?
ATKINS: Possibly „Blazentsv.“
CION: Yeah. This is not theoretically a cold temperatures track. But it is a track during the holiday season that we feel articulates qualities that we all try to summon in ourselves. It really is a musical environment rubridesclub.com sign in of „The Beatitudes“ by the composer that is russian Martynov. And, you realize, they are calling the listener to embody characteristics of generosity and compassion and kindness, residing merely to ensure that other people might just live and simply because contentment that is true arises from sort of going up against the grain of greed and egoism and materialism and violence and residing carefully, residing kindly to ensure that other people can have the kingdom of paradise right here on the planet.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That is a good getaway message. Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins through the Kitka Woman’s Vocal Ensemble. Their brand new record is called „Evening Star.“ Many thanks both quite definitely.
CION: many thanks a great deal for having us.
ATKINS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, „ZAPOVEDI BLAZENSTV/ THE BEATITUDES“)
KITKA LADIES‘ VOCAL ENSEMBLE: (Performing in Russian).
Copyright © 2018 NPR. All liberties reserved. Browse our website terms of good use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for more info.
NPR transcripts are manufactured for a rush due date by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced utilizing a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may possibly not be in its last kind and may also be updated or revised later on. Accuracy and supply may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s development may be the record that is audio.
Correction Jan. 18, 2019
A past type of the net summary listed a wrong record album title. Kitka’s showcased record is named Star, not Harmonies of Heaven and Earth evening.