Zedashe (from Georgia)

The Zedashe ensemble is based in the medieval fortress city of Sighnaghi, Eastern Georgia. Directed by Ketevan Mindorashvili, the current incarnation of the ensemble was founded in the mid 1990s to sing repertoire consisting of ancient three-part harmony chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy, folk songs from the Kiziqian region as collected from village song-masters and old publications, and folk dances from the region. The Zedashe Ensemble also sings repertoire from other regions in Georgia. Folk song genres include field-songs, love songs, historical ballads, war dance songs, and ritual circle dances, and are accompanied by the chunir (Svan lute), panduri (Kiziq lute), chonguri (Gurian lute), doli (drum), chiboni (goat-skin bagpipes), and accordion. Zedashe has toured internationally with appearances at major festivals and Universities in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Lithunia and the US.