Horses have played an essential role in nomadic life from ancient times, including of course during the migration of those tribes to Europe more than one thousand years ago.  The horse is symbolic to the people of these regions and is intertwined in many parts of their lives.  From these once sacred animals, horsehair became the strings of the violin and various other string instruments, and the horses’ gallop became the underlying beat.   TURAN represents the “Land of Ancient Central Asia” and revives these ancient sounds in the present day.

In the Andes of South America there are thousands of years of history and folklore.   TUKUTA inherits the reed flutes and the songs of the indigenous people and explains that “music is the equilibrium between nature, society and human beings”.  

Lithuania is a country where a third of the land is covered by forests and where worship of nature is deeply rooted.   The country's customs overlap with Japan's respect for nature.   SAULIUS explores a musical world that blends with nature, including the sounds of birds, wind, and rain, using flutes and ocarinas made from natural materials such as goat horns, stones, and plants.

In Lithuania, the Midsummer Festival is celebrated with great fanfare.  On this day, when the sun triumphs over darkness, forest plants are believed to possess special powers, so people go out into the fields to pick herbs and flowers and weave them into crowns to adorn their heads.  They purify themselves by passing through gates decorated with oak leaves, light fires, sing and dance in gratitude to nature, and jump over the burning fires to pray for happiness.  The traditional women's song, which contains the magical healing power of nature, is called Startines, "Harmony."

The Roma are a nomadic people with origins in northern India.  They left their homeland a thousand years ago and spread to the Middle East, Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, and Greece, conveying stories of their spiritual homeland and memories of their journeys through music.   A grand celebration of the baptism of children in an eastern village in Hungary, where Parno Graszt’s music joyfully connected more than 300 people who came to wish the children and their families well.

Georgia, nestled in the Caucasus Mountains, is said to be the birthplace of the some of the oldest civilization.  It is also said to be the birthplace of wine 8,000 years ago, and even today people raise their cups and welcome guests with song, treating it as a gift from the gods.  The country boasts a wonderful a cappella male choral culture.  SHALVA CHEMO, based in the western town of Guria, continues to carry on the tradition of polyphony.

Since 2013 Basiani has been the State Ensemble of Georgia.   They carry on the tradition of traditional polyphony, the origin of choral singing.
In the town of Guria in the west of Georgia, we joined a traditional "Supra" party, featuring repeated toasts and songs.   The song they sing is the same song that is on the Golden Record that is on board the Voyager spacecrafts that left Earth in 1977 and to this day continue their interstellar journey.