A musical group from Inner Mongolia is visiting the Northwoods and is ending their week-long tour with a show Saturday evening at Nicolet College.
Anda Union's visit to Rhinelander is part of the Arts Midwest World Fest tour, a program connecting small and mid-sized Midwestern communities to world cultures through weeklong residencies with global performers. The 10-member band started the week off with a workshop at Rhinelander High School Monday showcasing their traditional Mongolian music. Tim Pearce is the band’s manager and says the band draws their sound from the throat singing style known as khoomii. Their instruments include Mongolian versions of the lute and mouth harp, horse head fiddle, a three holed flute and percussion.
“…it’s music that really rocks. It’s very accessible, it’s a lot of string sounds, a lot of singing, it’s very moving slow songs, a lot of fast moving songs. A lot of people say, strange enough, that it reminds them of really energetic Irish music; which is strange given they come from northern China.”
According to Pearce, the music of Mongolia was in danger of dying out after years of cultural repression under Chinese rule. He says Anda Union has made it their mission to celebrate and pass along their cultural roots to future generations through music…
“…Ultimately, Mongolian music is inspired by nature and their lifestyles. So for example, many daughters leave home when they grow up, because when you leave home to marry someone, you leave your family forever-you’ll probably never see them again. So for example, there’s lots of songs about mothers who long to see their daughters again...”
The group will wrap up their Northwoods tour at Nicolet College on Saturday at 7:30. For ticket information visit Nicolet’swebsite.
