Location
Oxford, UK and Tbilisi, Georgia
Oxford, UK and Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgian polyphonic singing and open access community choirs.
Holly Taylor-Zuntz is a voice leader, song collector and multi-disciplinary artist from Oxford who has been living in Georgia and studying Georgian songs for the last five years. Her practice involves embodied voice work, exploring how the voice resonates in different parts of one’s body, and how that resonance can create a fuller ensemble sound.
Having ‘grown up’ in community folk choirs, she went on to train in Musical Theatre and then European Theatre at drama school. Her physical theatre training opened up a world of embodied voice practice, leading her to Poland and ultimately Georgia. Along the way she has learned from composer Helen Chadwick, vibrational expert Frank Kane, and director Anna-Helena Mclean, as well as many prominent ethnomusicologists in Georgia (Nino Naneishvili, Malkhaz Erkvanidze, Nana Mzhavanadze).
Holly’s singing workshops are full of joy! In Tbilisi she leads open-access community singing workshops, including Georgian polyphony, Ukrainian songs, and mindful voice practice. In Oxford, she leads Georgian polyphonic singing workshops and choirs.
She is one of the founders of Voices of the Ancestors, a podcast and theatre show about Georgian polyphonic songs, the women who sing them, and how they came to be loved in the UK. For more info go to: http://www.voicesoftheancestors.co.uk or click the social links below.
A weekly women’s choir singing Georgian polyphony in Oxford.
We meet on Tuesdays 7pm-9pm @ Lime Walk Methodist Church Hall, Headington (entrance on New High St).
Testimonial:
‘Holly is a fantastically energetic and inspiring leader and I am loving my new style of singing. Even if I arrive at rehearsal feeling tired, Holly soon has me feeling revived and enthusiastic. I thoroughly recommend Kalta for an inspiring experience and for making new friends in a warm and friendly and supportive community.’
Pricing:
Full course of 11 sessions: £110 (£10/session)
Drop-ins: £12
If you need a concession, please contact me by email to arrange this, no need to explain your circumstances. hollytaylor575@gmail.com
How to pay?
Booking on TicketTailor does NOT mean you have paid, after completing the booking please make a BACS transfer to my account.
The details are:
Name: Holly Taylor
Bank: Co-op
Sort Code: 08-93-00
Account Number: 80438621
If asked for a reference write: KALTA and your name/initials
FAQs
I CAN ONLY COME TO SOME OF THE SESSIONS. CAN I DROP IN?
The aim of this project is to build a community of women who sing Georgian songs together. So I would encourage everyone to commit to as many sessions as possible. However, I know this is not always possible, so there is the option to drop-in. Please note that if you drop-in mid way through the term, we will be recapping songs we have already learned and these will not be taught from scratch each time. You can listen to learning tracks beforehand to familiarise yourself with the songs.
I AM TRANS/NON BINARY. IS THE CHOIR FOR ME?
‘Kalta’ means women in Georgian. I have decided to focus this project on women’s voices because there is an intangible magic created when women come together to sing. In traditional Georgian society, some songs are only sung by women (though our repertoire will not be limited to these).
Of course, this begs the question ‘what is a ‘woman’s’ voice’?, especially in our modern society where people of all genders or no genders are recognised (at least that’s the society I want to live in!). While I want to be as inclusive as possible, I am aiming for a specific aesthetic in our group sound.
It’s not about how high or low your voice is – some cis women have a wonderful bass range for example. It’s more about the quality or timbre of your voice. So if you identify as a woman or non binary, and you think your voice blends well with women, then you are welcome. If you’re not sure, please reach out to me and we can have a chat about it.
I HAVE NEVER SUNG BEFORE. IS THIS CHOIR FOR ME?
There are no auditions for the choir, it’s a self selection process.
Georgian singing can be more challenging than western songs as the harmonies are unusual to our ears.
But singing in an unknown language can also be very freeing, and confidence building.
I have recently taken Natural Voice leader training, which involved helping singers find their unique voice, so I hope that this choir will be inclusive and empower singers to feel confident in their voice.
You do not need to:
– read sheet music
– sing solo
You do need to:
– match pitch (sing the same notes) as other people in your part
– keep a steady rhythm
I don’t recommend this choir for your first ever sing!
You are very welcome to book for the first session as a drop in and see how it goes.
Having said all that, there is a small minority of singers who are unable to blend with others and affect the overall sound of the group. In those cases I may have to ask them to leave.
CAN I PARK AT THE VENUE?
Parking is very limited at the church. There is some street parking (no evening restrictions). Otherwise there is a public car park on Windmill Road and at Waitrose. There are bike racks outside the venue.
Tuesdays 7pm-9pm
