Georgian Choir at Callington Community College

In July, 11 members of the Mtiebi Male Choir from Georgia in the Caucasus mountains, east of Turkey, visited Callington Community College.

They shared with students the folk and polyphonic styles of music they sing and introduced the little known country and culture of Georgia.

The music is a cappella, without accompaniment, and has three independent vocal lines being sung at any one time. Members of the College choirs and nearly 100 youngsters from Year 7 learnt the folk melodies and circle dance movements while the Mtiebi vocalists added the harmony parts.

The experience was a great introduction to music from the folk lore and orthodox singing traditions of the Georgian people whose country is often in the news, but about which the students knew very little at the start. The choir quickly built up an excellent relationship with the Callington students who thoroughly enjoyed the singing experience and learnt much about the ancient but still very alive folk culture and country of Georgia.

Members of the choir also visited four of the College’s partner primary schools at Calstock, St Dominic, Gunnislake and Pensilva where they introduced songs and encouraged the young singers to get fully involved in the circle dances. The songs, in Georgian, were about all aspects of life from birth to death and from happiness to loneliness and had an immediate impact on all who joined in the singing.

Mtiebi were in the West Country as part of a concert tour organized by the Carn to Cove project which aims to bring high quality music and arts performances to small village venues across the region. The workshops at Callington Community College were followed by a full performance by the choir at Calstock Village Hall at the end of June.