Caucasus Georgia Camp

Ketevan Mindorashvili was born in Sighnaghi in the eastern province of Kakheti in (the Republic of) Georgia. She was raised in a traditional singing family. Founder and director of the Zedashe Ensemble, Keto showed a gift for singing since childhood and continued to study music technique extensively in university. She devoted herself to preserving traditions on the brink of disappearance, and has become known as a singer and a teacher of Georgian folk music, particularly the fluid ornamentation of eastern folk songs. She has a deep knowledge of ancient church chant, and is a master of the panduri, the three-stringed lute from the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti.

Keto has searched valleys and mountains for ancient polyphony, collecting folk songs and chants, as well as writing her own music within the tradition. Today she hosts students from all over the world in her native Sighnaghi and travels internationally leading tours of Zedashe and teaching workshops. She has appeared on all Zedashe recordings to date, and has participated in numerous tours to the United States, United Kingdom, and throughout Europe. Keto has been teaching VH groups in Georgia (and twice in Corsica) since 2003.

Zedashe Ensemble, directed by Ketevan Mindorashvili, was founded in the mid-1990s to sing repertoire that had been largely lost during the Communist era. It is one of the few mixed (male and female) choirs in Georgia that is led by women.

The group is known for their performance of ancient three-part chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy, folk songs from the Kiziqian region as collected from village song-masters and old publications, and folk dances from the many diverse regions of the country.

The group’s name is taken from the special earthenware jug, or zedashe, that was buried under the family home for the purpose of making wine.

Listen to some of the ensemble’s recordings on Bandcamp.

Suzannah Park, a native of Asheville NC, is a performer teacher, activist, organizer and community leader. She comes from a family of three generations of traditional Appalachian, English and Irish singers, storytellers and dancers.

She has been touring and teaching for the past twenty plus years, both in the USA and abroad. She began singing with VH when she was twelve and touring with Northern Harmony at fourteen. One of VH most popular teachers, Suzannah became our acting Board President in 2018 and joined the executive team in 2021.

Founder and director of the Wild Asheville Community Chorus—now under the umbrella of VH—Suzannah was also a founding member of two VH alumni groups, the Starry Mountain Singers and the Starry Mountain Trio. She is also a member of the traditional music faculty and choir director at Warren Wilson College.

As an activist Suzannah wears the program director hat for a local NC non-profit, Community Roots. She is also a counselor, teacher and organizer with the international peer-based Re-evaluation Counseling. 

Tornike Skhiereli is a traditional singer, multi-instrumentalist and ethnomusicologist. He is the leader of the ensemble "Dziriani", the choir master of Oni Chanting School and creative director of the Oni "Master-Apprentice School". Tornike grew up immersed in the oral tradition and spent much time with village singers, learning and recording their unique songs. He has studied and performed with prestigious choirs and ensembles with repertoire from all the regions of Georgia, including singing with the folk ensemble Sakhioba. Tornike has led innumerable singing workshops in Georgia, in the EU and in eastern Europe. In 2010 and 2013, he was awarded orders by the President of Georgia for his contributions to Georgian folklore. In 2016 Tornike opened a guesthouse—Folklore House—in Oni, Racha, where he regularly leads workshops in traditional Georgian singing.

Nanina is a traditional women's ethnomusicological ensemble based in Tbilisi, known for performing and preserving authentic Georgian polyphonic folk music. The ensemble often mixes older folk music with newer arrangements in an effort to keep the spirit of Georgia's traditional music alive. The ensemble’s membership largely consists of professional ethnomusicologists and choir directors. The ensemble regularly participates in and hosts women's folklore events, such as the Lullaby Festival of Women's Ensembles held at the Folk Centre in Tbilisi. Released a teaching-oriented sheet music collection titled "Songs from the Repertoire of Ensemble 'Nanina'" featuring multi-track audio, karaoke tracks, and video supplements recorded via the Anzor Erkomaishvili Folklore State Centre of Georgia.