site.btaChinese Ih Tsetsn Ensemble Enchants Audience in Varna

The Chinese Ih Tsetsn Ensemble from Inner Mongolia performed a concert in the courtyard of the Archaeological Museum in Varna on Tuesday. 

The ensemble, consisting of five musicians, offered performances of morin khuur and percussion instruments and demonstrated the two strands of traditional Mongolian singing, khoomei throat-singing and long song, which have been included in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Their concert drew rapturous applause, as the audience joined in the shouts in the songs, clapped to the beat and learned how the signature Mongolian cheer tune sounds like.

The name Ih Tsetsn means “broad, inclusive, and wise” in the Mongolian language. The musicians grew up in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, most of them born into families of cattle breeders. From an early age they began to learn the local morin khuur violin and other characteristic instruments from folk musicians. After they graduated from professional music schools, they became masters of bowed and harp stringed instruments and traditional throat singing. They have performed in China, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium.

The music director and conductor of the ensemble is composer  Zhu Zhizhong, who is known as a creator of music for TV series and productions, music-dance productions, documentaries and environmental projects.

The concert was organized in partnership with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bulgaria and was part of the accompanying programme of the Varna Summer International Music Festival.