Kitka
Encyclopedia
Kitka is an Oakland, California
-based all-female vocal ensemble focused on "Eastern European women’s vocal traditions".
Kitka is a professional vocal ensemble dedicated to producing concerts, recordings, and educational programs that develop new audiences for music rooted in Eastern European women’s vocal traditions. Kitka also strives to expand the boundaries of this music as an expressive art form. This mission is accomplished through an Oakland
-based home series of concerts and vocal workshops; regional, national, and international touring programs; community service activities; in-school programs; broadcasts; recording and publication projects; master artist residencies; commissioning programs; and collaborations.
, Slavic
, and Caucasian
vocal styling. Under the co-direction of Shira Cion, Janet Kutulas and Juliana Graffagna since 1997, Kitka has grown to earn recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts
, Chorus America, and the American Choral Directors’ Association.
In 2002, Kitka joined Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares
as “international guests of honor” for this choir’s 50th Anniversary Gala at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. In the summer of 2005, Kitka journeyed to Ukraine
and participated in research expeditions to the rural villages in the northwest and east Ukraine under the guidance of Ukrainian singer, actress and composer Mariana Sadovska
. This trip also included a series of performances, international artist-exchange meetings, workshops, and radio and television broadcasts. Kitka has been invited to return to Ukraine in Spring 2009 by the Les Kurbas Theatre in Lviv
and the Kiev
Mohylanka Theater Academy for performances of the Rusalka Cycle. The European premier of the piece will take place at the Giving Voice Festival produced by the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, Poland
.
In 2000, Kitka received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation to launch the New Folksongs Commissioning Project, which engages American composers to write new works for the group. New Folksongs commissions premiered to date include compositions by Pauline Oliveros
, Chen Yi
, David Lang
, Linda Tillery
, Janet Kutulas (Kitka's Music Director), Daniel Hoffman, Thilo Reinhardt and Roy Whelden.
In 2002, Kitka began work The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds, a new vocal-theater project directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang, with original music by Mariana Sadovska
. Weaving old Slavic mythology together with contemporary themes, The Rusalka Cycle’s premiere performances took place to at Oakland’s Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in November 2005. The premiere performances were followed by the release of the studio recording in the Fall of 2006. In January 2008, Kitka revised and remounted The Rusalka Cycle at the Eugene and Elinor Friend Center for the Performing Arts at the JCC in San Francisco and at Tricklock Company's 8th Annual Revolutions International Theatre Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico
. Future performances will take place in Ukraine
, Poland
and Germany
during in April 2009.
Kitka has participated in many collaborations, ranging from a reconstruction of the medieval Carmina Burana
pageant for CalPerformances, (Thomas Binkley, director), to work with Hollywood composers on major motion picture soundtracks including Braveheart
, Jacob's Ladder
, and The Queen of the Damned
. Other collaborations of note include creating the role of the Greek Chorus/Trojan Slave Women in the American Conservatory Theater
’s performance runs of Hecuba
(Carey Perloff, Director) for which Kitka received a Drama Critic’s Circle Award nomination; the creation of Women in Black
, a multi-disciplinary work inspired by the international Women in Black Against War Movement (Thais Mazur, choreographer; Katrina Wreede composer) for which Kitka received an Izzie award nomination for "best musical contribution to a dance program"; and Songs from Mama’s Table, a celebration of the commonalties and contrasts between Balkan, Slavic and African American women’s singing traditions with Grammy nominees Linda Tillery
and the Cultural Heritage Choir.
A frequent guest on national radio shows, Kitka has recently been featured on NPR programs such as PRI
’s The World
(Jan. 3, 2008), A Prairie Home Companion
(Jan. 20, 2001), All Things Considered
(Dec. 18, 2004), On Point
, West Coast Live and Performance Today
. The Rusalka Cycle was also featured on The Story
(Nov. 30, 2007), from American Public Radio, and on National Geographic’s podcast. In 2005, live Kitka concerts were broadcast widely on Vermont Public Radio
, the CBC
(Radio Canada), and Ukrainian national radio and television. In July 2006, Kitka filmed a public television special, Kitka and Davka in Concert: Old and New World Jewish Music, which continues to be broadcast nationally and was elected for screening at the Dallas Video Festival, Florida Media Market, Indie Fest U.S.A, Reel HeART International Film Festival in Toronto and the New Beijing International Movie Festival.
A frequently occurring symbolic word in Balkan women’s folksong lyrics, Kitka means “bouquet” in Bulgarian
and Macedonian
.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
-based all-female vocal ensemble focused on "Eastern European women’s vocal traditions".
Kitka is a professional vocal ensemble dedicated to producing concerts, recordings, and educational programs that develop new audiences for music rooted in Eastern European women’s vocal traditions. Kitka also strives to expand the boundaries of this music as an expressive art form. This mission is accomplished through an Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
-based home series of concerts and vocal workshops; regional, national, and international touring programs; community service activities; in-school programs; broadcasts; recording and publication projects; master artist residencies; commissioning programs; and collaborations.
History
Kitka was founded in 1979 as an offshoot of the Westwind International Folk Ensemble. Kitka began as a grassroots group of amateur singers. Under the direction of Bon Singer from 1981 to 1996, Kitka has become professional ensemble that specializes in the techniques of traditional and contemporary BalkanBalkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
, and Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
vocal styling. Under the co-direction of Shira Cion, Janet Kutulas and Juliana Graffagna since 1997, Kitka has grown to earn recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, Chorus America, and the American Choral Directors’ Association.
In 2002, Kitka joined Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir is an internationally renowned World Music ensemble that blends traditional six-part a cappella repertoire with modern arrangements. It is most recognized under their contribution to Marcel Cellier's Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares project...
as “international guests of honor” for this choir’s 50th Anniversary Gala at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. In the summer of 2005, Kitka journeyed to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and participated in research expeditions to the rural villages in the northwest and east Ukraine under the guidance of Ukrainian singer, actress and composer Mariana Sadovska
Mariana Sadovska
Mariana Sadovska is a German-based Ukrainian actress, singer, musician, recording artist and composer.-Life:Sadovska began her work with Les Kurbas Theater at Anatole Vasiliev's Festivals in St. Petersburg and Moscow. There she was tapped for the "Slavic Pilgrim Project" by Jerzy Grotowski in...
. This trip also included a series of performances, international artist-exchange meetings, workshops, and radio and television broadcasts. Kitka has been invited to return to Ukraine in Spring 2009 by the Les Kurbas Theatre in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
and the Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
Mohylanka Theater Academy for performances of the Rusalka Cycle. The European premier of the piece will take place at the Giving Voice Festival produced by the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
In 2000, Kitka received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation to launch the New Folksongs Commissioning Project, which engages American composers to write new works for the group. New Folksongs commissions premiered to date include compositions by Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, Chen Yi
Chen Yi (composer)
Chen Yi is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She is also a violinist....
, David Lang
David Lang (composer)
David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
, Linda Tillery
Linda Tillery
Linda Tillery is an American singer and percussionist from San Francisco.-History:Tillery first came to prominence as the lead singer in San Francisco group The Loading Zone in 1968-69...
, Janet Kutulas (Kitka's Music Director), Daniel Hoffman, Thilo Reinhardt and Roy Whelden.
In 2002, Kitka began work The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds, a new vocal-theater project directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang, with original music by Mariana Sadovska
Mariana Sadovska
Mariana Sadovska is a German-based Ukrainian actress, singer, musician, recording artist and composer.-Life:Sadovska began her work with Les Kurbas Theater at Anatole Vasiliev's Festivals in St. Petersburg and Moscow. There she was tapped for the "Slavic Pilgrim Project" by Jerzy Grotowski in...
. Weaving old Slavic mythology together with contemporary themes, The Rusalka Cycle’s premiere performances took place to at Oakland’s Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in November 2005. The premiere performances were followed by the release of the studio recording in the Fall of 2006. In January 2008, Kitka revised and remounted The Rusalka Cycle at the Eugene and Elinor Friend Center for the Performing Arts at the JCC in San Francisco and at Tricklock Company's 8th Annual Revolutions International Theatre Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. Future performances will take place in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during in April 2009.
Kitka has participated in many collaborations, ranging from a reconstruction of the medieval Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
pageant for CalPerformances, (Thomas Binkley, director), to work with Hollywood composers on major motion picture soundtracks including Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
, Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder
Jacob's Ladder is a "ladder to heaven", described by biblical Jacob in the Book of GenesisJacob's Ladder may also refer to:* Ladder of Jacob, a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament...
, and The Queen of the Damned
The Queen of the Damned
The Queen of the Damned is the third novel of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. It follows Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat...
. Other collaborations of note include creating the role of the Greek Chorus/Trojan Slave Women in the American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
’s performance runs of Hecuba
Hecuba
Hecuba was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War, with whom she had 19 children. These children included several major characters of Homer's Iliad such as the warriors Hector and Paris, and the prophetess Cassandra...
(Carey Perloff, Director) for which Kitka received a Drama Critic’s Circle Award nomination; the creation of Women in Black
Women in Black
Women in Black is a women's anti-war movement with an estimated 10,000 activists around the world. The first group was formed by Israeli women in Jerusalem in 1988, following the outbreak of the First intifada.-History:...
, a multi-disciplinary work inspired by the international Women in Black Against War Movement (Thais Mazur, choreographer; Katrina Wreede composer) for which Kitka received an Izzie award nomination for "best musical contribution to a dance program"; and Songs from Mama’s Table, a celebration of the commonalties and contrasts between Balkan, Slavic and African American women’s singing traditions with Grammy nominees Linda Tillery
Linda Tillery
Linda Tillery is an American singer and percussionist from San Francisco.-History:Tillery first came to prominence as the lead singer in San Francisco group The Loading Zone in 1968-69...
and the Cultural Heritage Choir.
A frequent guest on national radio shows, Kitka has recently been featured on NPR programs such as PRI
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
’s The World
The World (radio program)
PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...
(Jan. 3, 2008), A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
(Jan. 20, 2001), All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
(Dec. 18, 2004), On Point
On Point
On Point is a two-hour call-in radio show hosted by Tom Ashbrook, a former The Boston Globe foreign editor and reporter, author and Internet entrepreneur. It is produced by WBUR in Boston and syndicated by National Public Radio...
, West Coast Live and Performance Today
Performance Today
Performance Today is a Peabody Award-winning classical music radio show, currently hosted by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations...
. The Rusalka Cycle was also featured on The Story
The Story with Dick Gordon
The Story with Dick Gordon is a weekday interview program hosted by Dick Gordon, former host of WBUR's The Connection and, before that, fill-in host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national radio program This Morning...
(Nov. 30, 2007), from American Public Radio, and on National Geographic’s podcast. In 2005, live Kitka concerts were broadcast widely on Vermont Public Radio
Vermont Public Radio
-WVPR:-WRVT:-VPR Classical:Since 2007, VPR has broadcast classical music on a separate network. The main station is WOXR , which is licensed to Schuyler Falls, New York and serves the Burlington/Plattsburgh area....
, the CBC
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
(Radio Canada), and Ukrainian national radio and television. In July 2006, Kitka filmed a public television special, Kitka and Davka in Concert: Old and New World Jewish Music, which continues to be broadcast nationally and was elected for screening at the Dallas Video Festival, Florida Media Market, Indie Fest U.S.A, Reel HeART International Film Festival in Toronto and the New Beijing International Movie Festival.
A frequently occurring symbolic word in Balkan women’s folksong lyrics, Kitka means “bouquet” in Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
and Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
.
Discography
| Album Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Sanctuary: A Cathedral Concert | 2008 |
| The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds | 2006 |
| Wintersongs | 2003 |
| The Vine | 2002 |
| Nectar | 1999 |
| Sacred Voices, Sacred Sounds | 1995 |
| Voices on the Eastern Wind | 1992 |
| Kitka | 1989 |
Grantors
| National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current... |
| The City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program |
| Alliance for California Traditional Arts |
| The Clorox Foundation Arts Mini-Grant Program |
| The Creative Work Fund |
| East Bay Community Foundation |
| The Walter and Elise Haas Fund |
| The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation |
| The James Irvine Foundation |
| New Connections Fund |
| The MAP Fund, A Project of Creative Capital |
| Meet the Composer Global Connections Fund |
| The San Francisco Foundation |
| The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation |
| Trust for Mutual Understanding |
| Zellerbach Family Fund |
| Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. The firm's Chairman, Larry Sonsini, is well known as an attorney and advisor to technology companies.... |