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Music lovers have a rare opportunity this month to experience Tuvan throat singing, one of the world鈥檚 most incredible vocal traditions. The members of Alash, a musical trio from the Republic of Tuva in southern Russia, have mastered the ability to sing multiple pitches at the same time, creating complex harmonies that mimic the sounds of the natural world.

Alash will perform live at Fusion on Friday, March 13.

The Journal interviewed Alash over email with the assistance of Sean Quirk, the band鈥檚 manager, who also serves as their interpreter. They chose to answer collectively, with Quirk compiling their responses.

Tuvan throat singing was developed by ancient nomadic herdsmen 鈥� 鈥渢he cowboys of the East,鈥� as they are sometimes called 鈥� and singing cowboys still exist in Tuva. The members of Alash grew up with one foot in these traditions and one foot in the modern, globalized world.

鈥淭uva in the 鈥�90s was very interesting. Our lives were a mix of very traditional life 鈥� helping family with the livestock at their villages and herding camps, for instance, post-Soviet life 鈥� going to school at the arts school in Kyzyl and learning about Western music and composers 鈥� and new things that were coming into Russia at the time, such as blue jeans, Indian soap operas, and 鈥楴inja Turtles,鈥欌�� they said. 鈥淓ven though economically things weren鈥檛 great, we feel very lucky to be connected to our ancestors鈥� traditional way of life 鈥� which is still practiced in Tuva 鈥� but also familiar with all of the new things the 21st century has brought.鈥�

Not only did Tuvan music develop among rural herdsmen, but the sounds themselves are inspired by nature.

鈥淪ome sounds, like 鈥榙amyrak borbangnadyr,鈥� are directly imitative of nature 鈥� in this case, the sound of the water bubbling in a small stream,鈥� they said. 鈥淪ome sounds are more about what that particular place in nature evokes in you 鈥� like the difference between the deep and profound mountain style of kargyraa versus the longer, steadier style of steppe kargyraa.鈥�

鈥淜argryaa鈥� refers to a low-pitched style of throat singing with a growling undertone, which is meant to evoke the howling of winter winds or the cries of a mother camel after losing her calf.

鈥淲hen you sing, it鈥檚 really important to have a vision or feeling of the landscape in your mind,鈥� they said. 鈥淚t connects us to Tuva even when we are not there.鈥�

Ideally, they said, audiences will get a sense of that peaceful, bucolic environment through the music.

鈥淲e really hope people can get that same vision of Tuva that we feel every time we perform,鈥� they said.

All three members of Alash began practicing throat singing as children. Bady-Dorzhu Ondar began when he was 4, Ayaan-ool Sam when he was in first grade and Ayan Shirizhik around fifth grade.

鈥淯sually in Tuva, even now, kids just start experimenting by themselves because they have heard it from recordings or older singers,鈥� they said. 鈥淔or Bady-Dorzhu and Ayan-ool, their primary teacher was the legendary singer Kongar-ol Ondar, and Ayan studied under Andrei Mongush, who still performs as an important composer and musician in the Tuvan National Orchestra.鈥�

Audiences are often amazed by the singers鈥� ability to produce multiple pitches at the same time, although producing the maximum number of overtones is never their primary goal.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 really think about 鈥榟ow many notes鈥� we are producing. It鈥檚 cool for people to listen to and think about it from that perspective, but for us it鈥檚 more about creating a particular timbre 鈥� each style has its own unique sound, related to its natural inspiration,鈥� they said. 鈥淪o, we鈥檙e not sitting there counting the notes. But we鈥檝e been told that people can hear four different notes at once in some styles.鈥�

They said it鈥檚 not difficult to produce overtones.

鈥淓veryone does it when they sing or speak, it鈥檚 a natural part of sound,鈥� they said. 鈥淭he hard part is manipulating the sound so a listener can hear those overtones distinctly from one another.鈥�

Over the years, Alash has collaborated with renowned musicians across a range of genres, from country to classical to hip-hop, including an early, fruitful partnership with the legendary Afrofuturist jazz group Sun Ra Arkestra.

鈥淲e first met them back in 2001 at a festival in Switzerland. We weren鈥檛 really jazz fans beforehand, so it was kind of a leap to suddenly meet these avant-garde guys. But we respected them greatly as musicians and kind of adopted them as honorary uncles, inviting them to Tuva for several visits,鈥� they said. 鈥淢usically it was very unique working with them and sometimes chaotic, but often times we were able to produce some very unique music. Since we were both open to improvisation, we were definitely able to find a common language that way even though our English wasn鈥檛 so good back then.鈥�

Although Alash鈥檚 music remains deeply rooted in tradition, global influences have seeped into their music over the years by way of these collaborations.

鈥淲e鈥檝e definitely been exposed to a ton more music and have allowed that to subtly blend into our arrangements, especially finding inspiration from our friends Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, as well as really digging a lot of the desert blues type of music that we鈥檝e enjoyed over the years,鈥� they said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e probably a little more rhythmically adventurous and compositional than when we started, when we were just basically doing our own arrangements of folk tunes.鈥�

Having performed all over the world, they believe in the power of music to transcend national, cultural and linguistic divisions.

鈥淲e want to bring some peace, healing and inspiration into everybody鈥檚 life,鈥� they said. 鈥淲e strongly feel that music is something that no border can stop, and we hope everyone across all borders can come away from our concerts a little more refreshed and inspired. We鈥檝e seen a lot of people who walk into a concert having no idea what to expect and then leaving having had a transformative experience.鈥�

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .