Tanya Tagaq

Traditional throat-singing is a playful contest where the female singers face each other and sing into each other's breath until one breaks into laughter or someone gives up.

I saw Tanya Tagaq in performance with the Kronos quartet in 2008 as the throat-singer duelled against their string instruments. She clearly won the contest.

The physical effort required was bursting her gown at the seams as the bow of the violin nearly snapped in two. The musicians worked themselves into an ecstatic frenzy.

Recordings don't do this sound-conjurer justice... they just can't capture the energy she transforms in the shared space. So if you can, go see her in person when she performs at this year's imagineNATIVE festival on October 15.


Visit the site for the full program of events:
imagineNative