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US Spring Tour February 23 - May 9, 2010

Tue-Thu Feb 23-25 Not open to the public.	Ellenburg Depot, NY	School workshops Open only to Ellenburg Depot school students.
Thu Feb 25	Ellenburg Depot, NY	Concert 7:00pm (Doors open 6:30) $Free	Northern Adirondack High School Auditorium 5572 Route 11 Ellenburg Depot, NY 12935 518-578-7261	website map
Fri Feb 26 Not open to the public.	Dorset, VT	School workshop daytime Open only to Long Trail School students.	Long Trail School 1045 Kirby Hollow Road Dorset, VT 05251 802-867-5717	website
Fri Feb 26	Dorset, VT	Concert TIME TBD $$	Venue TBD
Sat Feb 27	Portland, ME	Concert 8:00pm $20 adv/$22 door	One Longfellow Square 181 State Street Portland, Maine 207-761-1757	website map & directions
Mon Mar 1	Cambridge, MA	Concert 8:00pm (Doors open 6:30) $18/$16	Club Passim 47 Palmer St. Cambridge, MA 02138 617-492-7679 Tickets	website map directions
Tue Mar 2	Woodstock, NY	Concert 8:00pm $15 suggested $10 minimum	Harmony 52 Mill Hill Road Woodstock NY 845-684-5236	website map
Wed Mar 3	Chestnut Ridge, NY	Concert 7:30pm $15 $10 student/senior	Sunbridge Institute 285 Hungry Hollow Rd Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977 845-425-0055 x18 Tickets	website map directions
Thu Mar 4	Chestnut Ridge, NY	Workshop 11:00am-5:30pm $75	Sunbridge Institute 285 Hungry Hollow Rd Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977 845-425-0055 x18 Tickets	website map directions
Fri Mar 5	Framingham MA	Concert 8:00pm $22 adult $21 stu/sen $19 member	Amazing Things Art Center 160 Hollis St Framingham, MA 01702 508-405-2787 Tickets	website map directions
Sat Mar 6	Foster, RI	Concert 8:00pm $20 adult/$12 child	Peeptoad Coffeehouse Foster Country Club 67 Johnson Rd Foster, RI 02825-1318 401-451-8848 Tickets	website map directions
Sun Mar 7	Cumberland, MD	Concert 3:00pm $TBD	Allegany College of Maryland 12401 Willowbrook Road Cumberland, MD 21502-2596 301-784-5005	website map campus map directions
Mon Mar 8	Upper Marlboro, MD	Concert 7:00pm $TBD	Mount Airy Mansion 8714 Rosaryville Rd Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 301-856-9656	website map directions
Tue Mar 9	Brooklyn Park, MD	Concert 7:00pm $TBD	Chesapeake Arts Center 194 Hammonds Lane Brooklyn Park, MD 21225 410-636-6597	website map directions
Wed Mar 10	Salisbury, MD	Concert 7:00pm $Free	Great Hall of Halloway Hall Salisbury University 1101 Camden Ave. Salisbury, MD 21801 410-543-6271	website map campus map directions
Thu Mar 11	Princeton, NJ	Concert 8:00pm (Doors open 7:30) $20 general $15 ACP members/student/senior	The Arts Council of Princeton Paul Robeson Center for the Arts 102 Witherspoon Street Princeton, NJ 08542 609-924-8777	website map
Fri Mar 12	Pittsburgh, PA	Concert 8:00pm $10 adv $15 day of show	Istanbul Cafe 4130 Butler St. Pittsburgh, PA 15201 412-683-1623	website map
Sat Mar 13	Thomas, WV	Concert 8:30pm $17 adv $20 day of show	The Purple Fiddle 21 East Ave PO Box 87 Thomas, WV 26292 304-463-4141	website map
Fri Mar 19	Minneapolis, MN	Concert 8:00pm (Doors open 7:00) $18 adv $20 door	Cedar Cultural Center 416 Cedar Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55454 612-338-2674	website map directions
Sat Mar 20	Cedar Rapids, IA	Concert 8:00pm (Doors open 7:00) $14 adv/$18 door	Legion Arts (CSPS historic building) 1103 Third Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 319-364-1580 Tickets	website map directions
Wed Mar 24	Sioux Center, IA	Lecture/Performance 9:00-9:50am $Free	Dordt College M-116 (Choir room), Music Building (South end of BJ Haan Auditorium) 498 4th Ave NE Sioux Center, IA 51250 712-722-6221	website map campus map (Bldg 34) directions
Fri Mar 26	Lawrence, KS	Concert 7:00pm (Doors open 6:30) $Free	**Note change in location** The Commons in Spooner Hall The University of Kansas 900 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence, KS 66045-7622 785-864-4798	website map directions
Sat Mar 27	Salina, KS	Alash opens for Reduced Shakespeare Company 8:00pm $35/$25/$15	The Stiefel Theatre 151 S. Santa Fe Ave Po Box 1871 Salina, KS 67402 785-827-1998 Tickets	website map directions
Wed Mar 31	Dallas, TX	Concert noon $Free	Southern Methodist University Bob Hope Theatre Lobby Owen Arts Center 6101 Bishop Boulevard Dallas, TX 75205 214-768-1951	website map campus map & directions (#16 on the campus map)
Thu Apr 1	Dallas, TX	Concert 7:00-9:00pm $Free	The Crow Collection of Asian Art 2010 Flora Street Dallas, TX 75201 214-979-6438	website map directions
Fri Apr 9 Not open to the public.	Del Rio, TX	Concerts 8:30-9:15am 9:45-10:30am 1:30-2:15pm Open only to the San Felipe Del Rio CISD Fine and Performing Arts Dept.	Del Rio Civic Center 1915 Veterans Blvd. Del Rio, TX 78840 830-774-8641	website map
Thu Apr 29	Harrisburg, PA	Concert 8:00pm $12 adv/$15 door	Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center Stage on Herr 268 Herr St. (Herr & Susquehanna) Harrisburg, PA 17102-2018 717-412-7506	website map
Sat May 1	University Park, PA	Concert 7:30pm $14/$16	Acoustic Brew Concert WPSU Studios 120 Outreach Building 100 Innovation Boulevard University Park, PA 16802 814-865-3333 Tickets	website map directions
* * *   W A T C H   F O R   M O R E   V E N U E S   * * *

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US Tour

December 2 - December 20, 2009

Photo by Timm Hertel, MyTallTripod@gmail.com

Alash toured the Midwest and South with the legendary American band Béla Fleck & the Flecktones to promote the CD Jingle All the Way, which features Alash as guest artists. The reviewer for MichicganLive.com said, "With the four throats of Alash [throat singing] at once at the State Theatre, the result was stunning....Alash got a rousing standing ovation." Read the reviews in Kosmopolitan Online, Star Tribune, The Capital Times, Kalamazoo Gazette, and the Denver Post.

US Tour

July 17 - August 16, 2009

In the brief space of a month, Alash managed to pack quite a lot of excitement as it toured the United States from Vermont to Virginia. Highlights included appearances at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (video), the Grassroots Festival (video), and the Lowell Folk Festival (video1 video2). Alash also continued its popular tradition of collaborating with friends from the Sun Ra Arkestra at the Rotunda in Philadelphia. In addition to numerous concerts in smaller venues and live shows on two public radio stations, Alash taught an intensive 3-day workshop in Tuvan music at the New England Conservatory in Boston, attended by students from as far away as California. Participants in the Roomful of Teeth project, who had studied with Ayan-ool Sam and Sean Quirk in June, came to meet and hear the entire ensemble play to a standing-room-only crowd at Barbès in Brooklyn. The audience was so enthusiastic, they demanded 15 minutes' worth of encores. The next day, Alash wrapped up the tour with a relaxed and informal concert at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors Art Sanctuary in Wappinger Falls, New York. (Photograph at right by Hildegard M. Grob.)

Roomful of Teeth Project

June 7-12 2009

Williamstown, Massachusetts USA

Ayan-ool Sam and Sean Quirk were among the international experts teaching new vocal techniques to Roomful of Teeth, a twelve voice ensemble that seeks to learn a wide a range of vocal techniques from different cultures and incorporate them into new vocal music. See a video of Ayan-ool with yodeler Kerry Christensen.

Mongolian International Xöömei Festival

May 8-10 2009

Ulaanbaantar, Mongolia

Alash traveled to Mongolia for the International Xöömei Festival in Ulaanbaantar. In this video, Ayan-ool Sam, Ayan Shirzhik, and Bady-Dorzhu Ondar perform "Men Tyva Men" (I am Tyvan) with Andrei Mongush and two other Tuvan musicians. Mongush learned the song from its original authors, people of Tuvan origin who live in Kobdo, Mongolia.

US Tour

March 15 - April 23, 2009

Alash participated in South By Southwest 2009, the popular music festival held annually in Austin, Texas. They performed at several other venues in Texas before heading north to Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. In Brooklyn, NY they jammed with the Sub-TURAN-ians, in Ithaca, NY they teamed up with the Evil City String Band, and at the University of Connecticut they were the inspiration for and main attraction at Tuva Day. Next, they traveled west to Wisconsin and Illinois where, in addition to concerts, they conducted workshops in schools and at International House at the University of Chicago. Music professors have been especially enthusiastic about Alash. Several concerts and workshops on this tour came about because a professor who attended a concert at another venue invited the group to his or her own university.

US Tour

November 10 - December 22, 2008

Alash presented concerts and school workshops in Texas, the Midwest, and the Northeast (see video of them visiting a kindergarten class), and they collaborated with their old friends the Extra Special Terrestrial Guests in Philadelphia. As usual, they played to full houses of enthralled fans. But the highlights of this tour were their joint appearances with Béla Fleck & the Flecktones to promote "Jingle All the Way," the new CD by the Flecktones that features Alash as guest artists. The Flecktones' audiences, most of whom were hearing Tuvan throat singing for the first time, went wild for Alash. After the performance at the Blue Note in New York City, three young men hugged Ayan-ool Sam and Nachyn Choodu and broke out in song "Shyngyrash, Shyngyrash," imitating Alash's unique rendition of Jingle Bells.

Fifth International Symposium "Xöömei - Cultural Phenomenon of the Peoples of Central Asia"

July 24 - July 28, 2008
Kyzyl, Tuva

This year, the Symposium is part of the "Year of Xöömei" activities. It includes a scientific conference, an international xöömei (khöömei) competition, master classes, and exhibitions and sales of Tuvan national instruments, national dress, and traditional food. Bady-Dorzhu Ondar received grand prize for throat singing and won a car. Ayan-ool Sam and Ayan Shirizhik took first and second prizes for throat singing. Nachyn Choodu and his wife took first prize for a duet performance. Watch videos of the performances. Read about Bady-Dorzhu's prize in Russian or English. See coverage from NTV (Russian). See coverage from Russia Today (shows Bady-Dorzhu winning the car). Read the article (English) "Tuva Preparing to Host Throat Singing Admirers from all over the World" from TuvaOnline.

Üstüü-Xüree Festival
July 15 - July 19, 2008 Chadaan, Tuva

The Tenth Annual Üstüü-Xüree Festival of Live Music to raise funds for the reconstruction of the Üstüü-Khüree temple. Read more in English at TuvaOnline: "Tenth Üstüü-Khüree" and "Üstüü-Khüree to be rebuilt."

Shagaa

February 8, 2008
Tuva

Alash performed at festivities in celebration of Shagaa, Tuvan New Year (based on the Lunar Calendar).

US Tour

January 11 - February 2, 2008

In a whirlwind tour of the northeastern United States, Alash gave a concert or conducted a workshop (sometimes both) every day for 21 days straight. They played to packed houses in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, New Haven, Ithaca, New York, and Ellsworth, Maine. At the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alash collaborated with a string quartet, playing music arranged by Ayana Samiyaevna Mongush, director of the Tuvan National Orchestra (read more). In Philadelphia, they once again joined forces with their old friends, the Extra Special Terrestrial Guests. At the New England Conservatory, they visited music theory classes and presented a superb lecture/performance. At Yale University, they were overwhelmed by the number of students who wanted to try throat singing. In Vermont, Maine, and New York, they shared their music and culture with elementary, middle and high school students. All in all, it was an extremely busy three weeks for Alash, who delighted an ever growing base of returning fans as well as newcomers to Tuvan music.

Concert for Putin

August 13, 2007
Por-Bazhyn, Tuva

Alash, Chirgilchin, and Oktai were the featured performers at a private concert for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prince Albert II of Monaco. The two leaders, who were in Por-Bazhyn to see the archaeological excavation of the fortress, were treated to an evening of traditional Tuvan music, and Putin was quite amazed by the throat singing. Sean Quirk performed with Alash and even sang a solo in the kargyraa style! Afterwards, he chatted with the President. [Read more at NewsLab. See the report on www.1TV.ru (in Russian, click top right picture).]

Üstüü-Khüree Festival

July 24 - July 29, 2007
Chadaan, Tuva

The 9th Ustuu-Khuree Festival of Live Music gets ready to receive musicians and public from all over Siberia and abroad. [Read more at TuvaOnline.]

US Tour

April - June, 2007

Enthusiastic American fans were once again mesmorized by Alash's music. See and hear highlights on our media page. Alash traveled extensively, performing on the East Coast, in the Mid-West, South, and Texas. Along the way, Alash conducted workshops for schools and colleges - one principal in Texas reports that the children are trying to throat sing while walking through the halls. Alash also performed at charity events, and participated in music festivals. The image at left was made at the Make Music New York Festival.

The Russian Cultural Attaché, Nataly Batova, attended the performance in Washington, DC, which the Washington Post review describes as "utterly stunning." In DC, and at several other venues, Alash shared the stage with the American jazz band Extra Special Terrestrial Guests. The jam sessions with igil, doshpuluur, byzaanchy, kengirge, saxaphone, flute, trombone, bass, drums, and throat singing were absolutely amazing. During the tour, Alash also released their second CD, which, as Steve Sklar says in his review, "makes for a fine listening experience, indeed!"

Kyzyl-Moscow Festival

November 15, 2006
Eurasian cultural center "Legenda", Moscow, Russia

Mai-ool Sedip performed as a soloist on November 15. The festival took place on November 14 and 15. (Read more at Tuva Online (1), Tuva Online (2) and Tuva Online (3)).

All-Russia Competition of National Orchestras and Ensembles

September, 2006
Ulan-Ude, capital of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia

Alash musicians competed as members of the Tuvan National Orchestra. The Orchestra won the overall grand prize, as well as a special prize for the most original program. This year, for the first time, the competition was for "national" instruments, instead of "folk" or Russian instruments. The Orchestra's preformance qualifies them to compete in the finals in Moscow in 2008.

Workshops and Festival

September, 2006
Poland

Alash traveled to Poland for a series of workshops organzied by Polish musician Maria Pomianowska.

Mongolian Festival

July - August, 2006
Taiwan

Alash participated in a Mongolian Festival celebrating the 800th anniversary of the beginning of the reign of Genghis Khan. (Read more at Tuva Online or The China Post)

Üstüü-Hüree Festival

June 28 - July 4, 2006
Chadan, Tuva

Alash joined Huun Hur Tu, Chirgilchin, GenDos, Tyva, the Tuvan National Orchestra and others at this summer's Üstüü-Hüree Festival in Chadan, Tuva.

Xöömei Festival

May 13, 2006
Iyme, Tuva

Kongar-ool Ondar hosted a xöömei festival in his home town of Iyme in the Dzun-Khem district of Tuva. The festival honored the famed singer and composer Maxim Dakpai, on what would have been his 85th birthday. (Read more at Tuva Online)

US Tour

February and March, 2006

Alash played to sell-out crowds of enthusiastic fans when they toured the United States in February and March, 2006. Their visit was sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center (press release) at the Library of Congress with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, and was initially scheduled for three weeks of performances in New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The group extended their stay and traveled half-way across the country giving concerts and workshops in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Illinois in addition to the original venues. CEC ArtsLink (press release) hosted the musicians during their stay in the U.S.

All-Russia Competition of Folk Orchestras and Ensembles

September, 2005

Saratov, Russia

Alash musicians competed as members of the Tuvan National Orchestra. The Orchestra won one of the first prizes. In addition, Bady-Dorzhu Ondar received a special award for his unique vocal performance. (Read more at Tuva Online)