(Shalva Makharashvili, Shalva-Lucas Makharashvili, Gabo Makharashvili, Andrea Kuzmich)

Over the centuries, family ensemble singing has played a significant role in keeping traditional Georgian polyphonic singing alive. And true to this preserving nature, Ori Shalva (aka the Makharashvili family) continues this practice despite being based halfway around the world in Toronto.

The Makharashvili family started performing in private settings, for family and calendric events, but as the children aged and developed more skills and repertoire, the family found themselves in more performance opportunities, whether they be in cameo appearances on stages in Toronto, NY and Georgia, or in more recent features such as Harbourfront’s 2017 Body Percussion Festival, Toronto’s Annual Black Out Party 2018, or Toronto’s First Georgian Cultural festival, Sept 30 2018. At the end of 2019, Ori Shalva also recorded for the television show “Sounds of Canada” to represent traditional Georgian polyphony among the talent of Canada’s mosaic cultural communities. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, they have also been busy with online performances and workshops.

Today, Georgian-born singer/multi-instrumentalist Shalva Makharashvili and his Toronto-born partner, Andrea Kuzmich, represent Canada’s foremost experts in Georgian polyphony. Andrea is an academic (PhD ABD) who has presented and published papers on Georgian music to international audiences. Both Shalva and Andrea were featured soloists in Darbazi; founded the award-winning trio ZARI; led Georgian workshops and/or have collaborated with many groups in Canada, including VIVA Youth Singers, Aradia Ensemble, UofT Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Young Voices of Toronto and Folk Camp; and have exposed many in Toronto (enthusiastic amateur singers to professional musicians and composers) to the intricacies of Georgian polyphony through regular workshops they lead out MusiCamp, their Toronto-based home studio.

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This video was submitted to IRCTP to help celebrate their 10th Anniversary International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony at a time when COVID-19 was sweeping the world, bringing international travel to a standstill. Many of the videos were compiled into a one hour virtual concert to conclude the Symposium. It can be viewed at [ Ссылка ]

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