News



 THE 10th ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

ON TRADITIONAL POLYPHONY

 20– 24 October, 2020, Tbilisi, Georgia

International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire and the International Centre for Georgian Folk Song are pleased to announce that the scholars working on the problems of polyphony are invited to participate in the 10th  Anniver­sary International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, on 20–24 October, 2020, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

One of the features of the symposium is the diversity of themes, which is allowed by the interdisciplinary character of ethnomusicology.

Official languages of the Symposium are English and Georgian. All the papers will be published after the symposium in both English and Georgian.

Complete information including the history of previous symposia, information on the participants, contents of the bilingual books of proceedings with full texts of all symposium papers and about the International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire is provided at the Web Site: www.symposium.polyphony.ge

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On 12-22 July, Khulo, Shuakhevi and Keda municipalities of Achara will host a scientific-musical expedition. The expedition is will be realized as part of the three-year (2018-2021) project “Computational Analysis of Traditional Georgian Vocal Music”, with the financial support of German Research Foundation. The project aims to the documentation of Georgian traditional songs with new technologies.

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IRCTP published #26 Bulletin (June, 2018) which is available at the website and Facebook page of the center.

The bilingual bulletin of the IRCTP provides the information on the performance and study of traditional music, as well as presents novelties from Georgia’s ethnomusicological life.



📝 July 5th at the Zakaria Paliashvili Memorial House Museum  was held the lecture of IRCTP specialist Baia Zhuzhunadze. The topic of discussion was “The traditional Georgian dance in Georgian cinematography”.

The organizer: The Union of Tbilisi Municipal Museums



Presentation of the book “Yvette Grimaud and Georgian Song” will be held at the Grand hall of Tbilisi State Conservatoire at 19:00 on June 13, 2019.

Yvette Grimaud is a legendary French ethnomusicologist, who, after 7 years of correspondence with the Conservatoire professors Shalva Aslanishvili and Grigol Chkhikvadze and interference of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, managed to overcome the obstacles of the KGB and came to Georgia to record unique folk songs.

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Tbilisi State Conservatoire, the Folklore State Centre of Georgia, and the Georgian Chanting Foundation will hold a concert “The Singing of the Chveneburebi of İnegöl” at Tbilisi Rustaveli Theatre on April 15 and at Batumi Drama Theatre on April 17. The evening will also include a presentation of the book Georgian Polyphony in Western Turkey: In the Footsteps of Peter Gold which was presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year.

The evening will host a performance of folk songs and dances of Acharians who resettled in İnegöl (Turkey) at the end of the late 19th century. Of all the Georgian populations in Turkey, the İnegöl Georgians have best preserved traditional vocal and choreographic culture. Their repertoire includes Abkhazian dance folklore as well.

The publication comprises expedition recordings of traditional song and dance music from İnegöl; including the audio recordings and transcriptions collected by a great Georgian from Turkey, Ahmet Özkan Melashvili (1965-1966), the expeditions of American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Peter Gold (1968), and Tbilisi State Conservatoire in collaboration with Trabzon University State Conservatory (2015, 2018).

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Ethnomusicologist Nino Razmadze – Deputy Director of the International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony (IRCTP) of Tbilisi state Conservatoire was at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna – MDW within the framework of ERASMUS+program. On special invitation of the University professor Ulrich Morgenstern she delivered lectures on Georgian traditional music and instruments, performance practice was another main focus; the interested students and employees as well as invited persons had a possibility to get familiarized with the repertoire of Georgian instrument chonguri and a few Georgian songs accompanied by round dance.

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In 2018 with the financial support of the Georgian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport  International Research Centre for Traditional Polyphony of Tbilisi State Conservatoire published the book “Kist Traditional Music” (in Georgia, Kist and English)

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Teona Lomsadze, specialist of the International Research Center for Traditional Polyphony was chosen a Liaison Officer for Georgia at ICTM (International Council for Traditional Music).
In recent years this position was held by Joseph Jordania, head of the International bureau of IRCTP, Georgian ethnomusicologist working at Melbourne conservatory. According to his and Rusudan Tsurtsumia’s initiative and ICTM board decision young ethnomusicologist Teo Lomsadze will replace him to accomplish the following duties: distribute information about the ongoing processes in Georgian ethnomusicology and traditional music scene to ICTM network and provide useful information about ICTM projects and scientific events to Georgian ethnomusicologists.