Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble in Concert

Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble in Concert 
* Saturday, May 20, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

The women in Kitka are fearless sonic explorers, and you can hear their intrepid spirit in every haunting song. For over four decades, the nine-women Oakland ensemble has developed a vast, breathtaking repertoire of traditional songs from the Balkans, Caucasus and Slavic lands, as well as new material composed for the group drawing on those ancient vocal practices.

Traveling to rural communities throughout Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, they’ve gathered songs and communed with elders who are often the last links to centuries-old traditions. The ravishing textures of the women’s voices, unearthly cadences, angular rhythms and unfamiliar languages make Kitka’s performances and recordings an enthralling experience.

“Even God stops to listen when Kitka — unamplified, without sets, props, instruments, or even lyrics most people can understand—opens its collective mouth. The sound is so chillingly beautiful, by anyone’s standards, that the entire audience sits enraptured, most of them with eyes shut. My own eyes flooded with tears.”— Summer Burke, The Guardian