Intercultural Musicking in the Virtual World: Online Georgian Singing Workshops in Times of COVID

Description

The extended lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made travel and in-person meetings impossible. Yet it also opened up new possibilities for people to meet in the virtual world and even sing ‘together apart’ via the Internet. Georgian singers who were no longer able to give workshops overseas or welcome groups of visiting singers to Georgia instead developed creative ways to deliver a new kind of workshop on Zoom and other platforms. In this paper I examine (i) the different teaching methods and resources used, (ii) the unexpected benefits for both teachers and students, and (iii) how these meetings enabled members of the international Georgian singing community to keep alive their social as well as musical connections with Georgia and with one another. I also reflect on how isolation paradoxically led to greater participation by a more diverse ‘audience’ and gave rise to new multi-national ensembles. Examples include workshops led by Tamar Buadze, Nino Naneishvili, Zoé Perret, Malkhaz Erkvanidze, and the ensemble Zedashe.

Period	18 Sept 2022
Event title	The Eleventh International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony
Event type	Conference
Location	Tbilisi, GeorgiaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International