Artist Website: AnDa Union
AnDa Union
“Our music draws from all the Mongol tribes that Genghis Khan unified. We all have different ethnic backgrounds and we bring these influences into our music. There is a wealth of folk music for us to learn, so far our repertoire of songs is like a drop in the ocean”
AnDa means approximately “blood brothers” in Mongolian. AnDa Union was formed in 2003; its 14 members all hail from the Xilingol Grassland area of Inner Mongolia, a semi-autonomous region of China. At the Inner Mongolia Ethnic Opera and Dance Theater, the members of AnDa Union studied the folk music they now perform and traditional instruments they now play, such as the horse-head fiddle or tsuur, an ancient bowed instrument. The ensemble members also play the maodun chaoer, a three-holed flute, as well as Mongolian versions of the dulcimer, zither, lute, and mouth harp. The main singing style performed by AnDa Union is khoomii, commonly referred to as throat singing, a traditional type of Mongolian overtone singing, which replicates the sounds of nature. AnDa Union are part of a musical movement that is finding inspiration in old and forgotten songs, drawing on a repertoire of magical music that had all but disappeared during China's recent tumultuous past. AnDa Union hold on to the essence of Mongolian music whilst creating a form of music that is new. AnDa Union combine different traditions and styles of music from all over Inner and Outer Mongolia, developing an innovation previously unheard of. The very existence of a music group like AnDa Union is new to Inner Mongolia. Winners of the prestigious Eco-Youth Prize awarded by China Central Television (CCTV) and featured at the Kennedy Center Festival in China, AnDa Union has toured France, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Korea. Japan, Russia and the US.