"Belek / The Gift" - Choduraa Tumat

Choduraa Tumat

Throat singing by Tuvan women As the title suggests, this album is Choduraa`s “gift” for her listeners as well as an expression of her own musical gift. Andwhat agiftitis! Her vocal range is astonishing. She slips with ease between the glottal gymnastic of throat-singing to the plaintive tones of a lullaby or love song, and the ritual imitative calls of animal husbandry. Her instrumental ability is equally impressive as she conjures up the taiga and steppes of Tyva with the igil fiddle or khomus lute and sings of Her love with the demir khomus jew’s harp/ she shines as a beacon for women - in Tyva and worldwide - for having the strength to break the traditional genbder taboo and perform khoomi, and for standing up to be counted among the wonderful musicians of Tyva”. Dr Carole Legy - Director of “Inner Asian music”, UK; Senior Researcher at the University of Cambridge, England. Choduraa Tumat is one of the brightest personalities among the younger generation of Tyvan musicians. She has a wide range of performing abilities. Apart from being a good instrumentalist, playing many instrumentals, Choduraa performs both khoomei and folksongs. Many of Choduraa’s songs have already become popular among Tyvans. It took great creative audacity to step over the frontiers of the traditional idea of khoomei being the prerogative of men. Choduraa Tumat as also the leader of the unique all-women throst-singing group “Tyva Kyzy” (Daughters of Tyva) Valentina Yuryevna Susukey - (Candidate of Arts, member of the Union of composers of the Rassian Federation, Renowned scientist of the republic of Tyva, scientific secretary of the Tyvan Institute of the Humanitarian Research)