The conference of the First Russian Folk and Ethnic Music Chart (RWMC) was held in the Tula Region from September 19 to 21, 2023. It brought together speakers and musicians from all over Russia.
“The idea was to create a warm and safe place for ethno musicians (participants of RWMC of the last 3 years) to talk, share ideas, perform, work with local media, meet panelists, and feel needed and loved. Looks like we succeeded” said the Chart’s organizer Daryana Antipova.
About the first Russian chart on folk and ethnic music
This is an online platform where panelists from different countries (journalists) evaluate audio albums sent by various ethno musicians of our multinational country throughout the year, write reviews on them, and give recommendations. The most important privilege for the participants is that their music is included in the rotation of various radio stations around the world. That is, people declare themselves literally publicly.
The chart unites 16 countries, including the USA, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Norway, the Czech Republic, Belgium and so on, as well as Serbia.
At the ethno-conference itself, artists of different directions of ethnic music performed for three evenings in the Tula Kremlin: Zor (Republic of Buryatia), HAGRIN (Republic of Kalmykia), Shagan (Moscow), Staritsa (Belgorod), MATANYA (Lipetsk/Moscow), Balakir (Perm), Vedan Kolod (Krasnoyarsk), Alexander Medvedev (Republic of Khakassia), Zemfira Rashitova (Republic of Bashkortostan), Tatiana Molchanova and the folklore ensemble “Mezhdurechye” (Moscow), Alexandra Mustafina (Republic of Tatarstan), Choduraa Tumat (Republic of Tyva), ARATSEYA (Republic of Belarus), ShooDJa-ChooDJa (Republic of Udmurtia), Kivi Niemi (Moscow/Tula), Runa Project (Tula) and others.
During the day, the participants closely communicated with international speakers; with some online, with others offline. Among them were Christian Plifke (Germany), the owner of the CPL-Music label; Tony Pennachia (USA), creative director of MergingArts Productions from New England; Sergey Ryasik (Moscow), designer of the Russian World Music Chart and Ryasik Design; Tatiana Lambolez (France), founder of the ALTAN-ART agency; Lev Belyakov (Serbia), owner of the label FireStorm Production; Antonovka Records (Russia / Moldova / Serbia), an independent ethnographic music label recording carriers of traditional culture; Alexey Chichakov (Altai Republic), the author-performer and founder of the BELUKHA JAM group; Tatiana Naryshkina (Krasnoyarsk) of Vedan Kolod folk group; Bulat Shiretorov, a specialist in the promotion of Navigator Records music projects; Dina Bashkirova (Kazan), program director of the International Ethnic Festival Krutushka; and others. They trained the participants in the process of releasing albums and promoting them in Russia and abroad and provided comprehensive information that is very difficult to put together, especially for novice musicians.
Why did Tula become the center of the first conference?
The organizers of the chart Daryana Antipova and Irina Brykova chose between two cities — Moscow and Tula. The latter outweighed. They believe that each regional and republican capital can hold big events, and many places love and preserve folklore.
Among the collectives that have participated in the chart over the years and participants of the ethno-conference, there are many original authentic collectives and innovators who are equally passionate about creating new folk music and preserving the uniqueness of their national cultures. After all, the main goal of the Russian Folk and Ethnic Music Chart is to attract the attention of the world music community to innovations in the folk music of a multinational country and to help promote unique musicians inside the country and abroad.
Official website: worldmusicchart.ru
(headline image: Zor (Republic of Buryatia) – Photo by Natalia Rogova)
Author: Tatiana Naryshkina
