Alash Ensemble Stuns Audience

 

Alash Ensemble gave a stunning performance last Thursday, receiving a wildly enthusiastic response from the audience that nearly filled the Lecture Hall at Ozarka College in Mountain View. There were abundant awe-inspired moments while the ensemble demonstrated their stunning musicianship, demonstrating each member’s ability to sing multiple notes simultaneously along with their virtuosity on a variety of traditional folk music instruments of their homeland in the Republic of Tuva, located in south-central Siberia.

To quote Gary Keith, (who gave his permission to do so), “Wow! Lois and I just got home from the Alash Ensemble’s concert at Ozarka College here in Mountain View. It was incredible, and pretty much defies description. The music was like a spiritual experience. I felt like I was out of my body several times. It was transcendent, beyond borders, beyond language, beyond cultures. It felt like an old ancient experience from another life. Yet it was so familiar, like I had experienced it somewhere in my soul, like a very familiar old friend. It really gets into you, your being doesn’t want to and can’t say No to it. I feel like I was exactly where I wanted to be and at one with everyone in the room. I could have listened for several lifetimes and felt like maybe I had. Thanks you so much John and Terri [Van Orman] for bringing such a gift to Mountain View. Lois and I agreed that we felt like we were in another place and time. I watched the room and everyone was moving, swaying, probably there were even some tears. That was beautiful!”

 

The concert was presented by the Arkansas Craft School in keeping with its efforts to promote exploration, innovation, and education in the arts.

 

The Arkansas Craft School, located on Main Street in Mountain View, Arkansas is dedicated to the education of aspiring and practicing craft artisans for success in the Creative Economy. The Craft School partners with Ozarka College which offers Continuing Education credits for all of its courses. Support for the Arkansas Craft School is provided, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment of the Arts.