Department of Sociology and Anthropology

May 25.2007

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to support with great enthusiasm the proposal of the Siberian diaspora group Sakha Open World, in their effort to bring the musicians and cultural leaders Gherman and Klavdia Khatylaev of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) to the United States. A previous visit in the U.S. in 2005 was very short and done on very little notice. Despite this, the duo had enonnous success charming audiences in New York and the Washington D.C. suburbs. In the community center event I helped orgarize, we had standing room only and very welcome sponsorship from the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.

Having known and admired the Khatylaevs since the mid-1990s, I have watched their career blossom in the Sakha Republic, and in the Russian Federation, where they have toured extensively. Their music is an inspiring blend of tradition and innovation. It manages to convey deep spirituality without sounding homogenized or New Age. Their disk recordings, made through the Ministry of Culture in Yakutsk, are well known in the republic, and sold well on their 2005 U.S. trip.

The group Sakha Open World was begun by an active and enterprising indigenous Siberian couple from Sakha Republic, Vera and Zhargal Solovyev. They have sponsored several groups from the Russian Federation, usually becoming the host organization when scholars or musicians have gotten additional letters of invitation (for visa purposes). Their verve and energy has been enormously impressive, for example renting vans for transport when necessary, organizing concerts and home stays. I am impressed enough by this growing group (which has a network of Sakha living abroad as its core membership) to have agreed to become an advisor for their programs. I am ready to help with logistics, if we can bring the Khatylaevs back for concerts and perhaps for programs in schools. They are amazing performers and articulate ethnomusicologists well worth supporting.

Sincerely,

Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Research Professor

Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Georgetown University

Editor, Anthropology and Archeology of Eurasia

balzerm@georgetown.edu

Автор: Шишигин А.Н.