27 October 2006

Greetings from Tuva. Welcome to the second installment of our newsletter. Alash has had a busy summer, having very little time to enjoy summer in our wonderful Tuva. The ensemble spent almost two months participating in a festival in Taiwan along with Kongar-ool, his young students' "Ertine" ensemble, and the Tuvan dance ensemble "Sayany." Although Taiwan was very interesting for us - five times smaller than Tuva with approximately one hundred times the population - it was very hot and humid and we were happy to get home in the end of August. By the time we got home, we had played more than 60 concerts in Taiwan, but since we were part of a festival programme, we only played the same two songs over and over again. We also played a lot of ping-pong and participated in international, friendly basketball matches, where Mai-ool played with distinction.

After we got home from Taiwan we didn't have much time to rest, as a week later we traveled to Poland for a series of workshops organized by the famous Polish musician Maria Pomianowska. At both festivals we had great opportunities to meet with musicians from other countries and regions of the world, adding to our ever-expanding knowledge of world music. We also got to see our friend Gen-Dos and his multi, multi musician ensemble. Our verdict: They rock! After that we were again home for less than two weeks when we traveled off to Ulan-Ude, capital of the Republic of Buryatia, as members of our Tuvan National Orchestra. We were there to participate in the first All-Russia competition of folk-music orchestras and ensembles, and we have great news: we won the grand prize!!

As far as our new album, we've encountered a few difficulties getting it but are working on things feverishly and should be able to have it available for sale by Christmas. We'd like to thank all of you who bought the live album, and we've experienced international demand for the album so have decided to make it available until we get the studio album out.

Sean is currently in Denmark working on a film that was made by a Danish company in Tuva this summer, and is simultaneously working vigorously on our next US Tour. Anyone who has suggestions for contacts concerning venues or sponsorship, please feel free to contact us at alashensemble@gmail.com. We feel like doing things the Tuvan way - through mutual effort - is the best way to do things, as we would like to consider all of those who love our music and Tuvan music part of one big family. So we appreciate your input!?

Sean will be back home in Tuva in early November, and we'll all be beginning our session at the Kyzyl branch campus of the East Siberian State Academy of Arts and Culture, where we are part-time students in the musical faculty - we have an insatiable appetite for learning! After that we'll be preparing for Shagaa, the Tuvan New Year, and we'll send you news about that as it happens.

Best wishes from all of us!!!

Alash