WINTERSONGS, Kitka's cherished and wildly popular December concert tradition, showcases seasonal music from a wide variety of Eastern European and Eurasian lands, as well as original new works inspired by midwinter mysteries.
WINTERSONGS-WEATHERING THE STORM is Kitka's artistic response to urgent environmental concerns that impact us all. This year's concerts will feature songs that invoke the powers of the elements in wintertime: blustering winds, storms, avalanches, snow, ice, and floods. Kitka will also sing rain-calling songs as an offering to California landscapes recently consumed by wildfires. The program will be balanced with ritual songs created to bring light, warmth, hope, and good fortune to communities who, generation after generation, have bonded together to survive the ravages of wintertime.
Inspired by traditional songs and vocal techniques from Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Kitka has earned international recognition for its distinctive sound, exploring a vast palette of ancient yet contemporary-sounding vocal effects. Kitka's commitment to presenting traditional song as a living and evolving expressive art form has led to adventurous collaborations with some of the world's most exciting indigenous musicians and contemporary composers ranging from Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares to Meredith Monk. Currently celebrating its 40th season, Kitka began as a grassroots group of amateur singers from diverse ethnic and musical backgrounds who shared a passion for the stunning dissonances, asymmetric rhythms, intricate ornamentation, and resonant strength of traditional Eastern European women's vocal music. Since its informal beginnings, the group has evolved into an award-winning touring ensemble known for its artistry, versatility and mastery of the demanding techniques of regional vocal styling, as well as for its innovative explorations in new music for women's voices.