Main content

Sayan Ring Festival

Andy Kershaw visits the Sayan Ring Festival in Shushenskoe in deepest Siberia, meeting some of the headline acts and getting a personal lesson in throat singing.

Andy Kershaw visits the Sayan Ring Festival in Shushenskoe in deepest Siberia. Modelled on the UK's WOMAD Festival, it draws artists and audiences from across the Russian Federation and beyond. Andy meets some of the headline acts, including local boys Huun Huur Tu from nearby Tuva, Daler Nazarov from Tajikistan, and veteran German world music band Dissidenten, and he gets a masterclass in throat singing.

The Sayan Ring Festival is located in Siberia's Sayan Ring mountains. Shushenskoe was a major tourist town during the Soviet era, as one of Lenin's places of exile - and as interest in Lenin declined in the post-Soviet years, the town turned to music and culture to fill its monolithic hotel. Huun Huur Tu is the area's best-known band, having taken their Tuvan throat-singing style all over the world. Daler Nazarov started out as a rock musician, spent years as a successul film music composer, and has now returned to touring with a band, this time with music strongly based on Tajik traditions. Berlin-based band Dissidenten have been called the 'grandfathers of world beat', and had great success in the 1990s with songs such as 'Fata Morgana'. Andy's throat-singing lesson comes from Albert Kuvezin, one of the pioneers of the popularisation of Tuvan music through his work with Huun Huur Tu and Yat Kha. The programme was recorded at the 2010 Sayan Ring Festival.

Available now

1 hour

Music Played

  • ±«Óãtv Location Recording - Sayan Ring Festival

    • ±á³Ü³Ü²Ôâ€H³Ü³Ü°ùâ€T³Ü

      Oske Tcherde

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.
    • ±á³Ü³Ü²Ôâ€H³Ü³Ü°ùâ€T³Ü

      Saryglaar

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.
    • Daler Nasarov

      Turki Sheroz

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.
    • Daler Nasarov

      Chasmi Kabudi

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.
  • ±«Óãtv Location Recording - Session on the banks of the Yennesey River

    • Albert Kuvezin

      improvisation

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, banks of the Yennesey.
    • Albert Kuvezin

      Song to the Spirits

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, banks of the Yennesey.
  • ±«Óãtv Location Recording - Sayan Ring Festival

    • Dissidenten

      Sultan Swing

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.
    • Dissidenten

      Fata Morgana

      • ±«Óãtv Recording.
      • July 2010, Shushenskoe, Siberia.

Broadcasts

  • Sat 9 Jul 2011 15:00
  • Sun 1 Apr 2012 22:00

Featured in...