Скачать или смотреть TUVA—Andryan Andreeivich Öpei sings khöömei and plays chanzy

"Well, how I got started - my father had an ensemble called Möngulekting Syry here in Bai-Taiga. He was the leader of that ensemble, so I was already singing in sygyt when I was 6 years old. My first time on stage was in Möngün-Taiga. My dad would take me on tours with him some time. My dad taught me. I would participate in all the khöömei competitions such as Saradak, all the time. In order to develop I was also taking inspiration from the ancestors. So ever since then, I’ve been interested. I went to the Arts College in Kyzyl in the folk music faculty, but didn’t finish. I finished the teacher’s college."

"Khöömei and language, well they’re very closely related. It comes from our ancestors who raised livestock. Even the words are the words of our ancestors, their songs. So it’s definitely related to language. Khöömei has the real Tuvan words, it’s passed down from our ancestors...A Tuvan person has Tuvan thoughts and will sing like a Tuvan. "

Andryan Andreeivich Öpei Born 1983 Aug 12 Teeli, Bai Taiga.
Interview and recording by Sean Quirk, curated by K. David Harrison for Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and National Geographic Society.
2012.