Evie Mark
Evie Mark was raised in the small community of Ivujivik located at the northernmost point of Nunavik (Northern Quebec). Evie is renowned for her remarkable abilities in traditional Inuit throat singing. Because of her talents she has had the opportunity to travel the world, sharing her Inuit culture of which she is very proud. Another of Evie’s passions is film production. She has worked in every facet of this media from camera work and acting to editing and directing. Many of her productions have been aired on the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network- a Canadian national television broadcaster. The programs she prefers to work on deal with issues affecting all aspects of the lives of her people. Evie is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters. Evie and her daughters live in Montreal, Quebec.
Akinisie Sivuarapik
Akinisie Sivuarapik, originally from Puvirnituq, Nunavik, started throat singing at the age of 6. Her grandmother. Mary Sivuarapik taught her how to throat sing. Like her grandmother, she now teaches young people how to throat sing in Nunavik and Nunavut. She strongly believes all traditional cultures should be protected through educating people. She has traveled around the world to show and share her culture through the art of throat singing. Akinisie lives with in Puvirnituq.
Evie Mark and Akinisie Sivuarapik have been performing Inuit throat-singing together for several years. They have collaborated with artists in many disciplines- from hard rock bands and Tuuvan throat-singers to classical musicians such as Gabriel Thibodeau and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
Gayle Lockwood
Gayle Lockwood is currently a faculty member at Brigham Young University where she has taught in the Music Dance Theatre program since 1984, specializing in both traditional music theatre and contemporary vocal techniques. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Secondary Music Education from Brigham Young University and a Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Utah where she studied with Betty Jeanne Chipman. In addition to teaching private voice and voice classes for the BYU Music Dance Theatre program, Ms. Lockwood serves as Musical Director for productions at BYU, Tuacahn Center for the Arts (a professional regional non-profit production organization,) as well as community theatre. She has been a guest lecturer and clinician for many groups including local and regional chapters of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Jazz Choir at Shenandoah Conservatory, and several local high schools.
Broadway productions in which students of Ms. Lockwood have performed include: Legally Blonde, Xanadu, South Pacific, Alter Boyz, 110 in the Shade, Brooklyn the Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mama Mia, Good Vibrations, Les Miserables, Jane Eyre, Miss Saigon, and National Tours of Wicked, Hairspray, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Scarlet Pimpernel, Phantom of the Opera, 42nd Street, and Cats as well as many regional theatre and non-equity tours.
Ms. Lockwood enjoys life in the quiet state of Utah with her very supportive husband.
Kerry Christensen
Kerry Christensen, one of the world’s best Alpine yodelers, was raised on a potato farm in Grace, Idaho and had to wander quite a distance to discover his passion — yodeling! A performer from the tender age of three, he has sung everything from western ballads to barbershop music. It was during his travels to Austria in 1976 however, that he discovered the folk music that would be his life. Armed with recordings of the great yodelers, Kerry returned from Europe, determined to master this ancient art — and he did. While driving the family tractor around and around the potato fields, he practiced 14-15 hours a day. He drove his father crazy and was banished to practicing in the garage — to no avail, as yodeling carries very well. (Remember, it was used to communicate between hillside farms.)
Kerry’s first yodeling performance was in 1977, at a major university orientation assembly. His yodeling brought 15,000 or so students to their feet for a standing ovation. Then his career really soared when Disney World in Orlando, Florida hired him to work at the German Pavilion of the Epcot Center in 1984 . He was the Disney World Yodeler from 1984 to 1990 and the leader of the night band for the last four of those years.
After his experience at Disney, Kerry headed out on his own and has had great success as one of only two or three professional, full-time yodelers in the United States. You will find him now at various German, Swiss, Austrian, Cowboy, Country and Scandinavian festivals around the U.S. and Canada during the summer.
Ayan-ool Sam
Ayan-ool Sam was born in 1983 in the Erzin Kozhuun region of Tuva. When he was in the fourth grade, he began studying with Kongar-ool Ondar at the Republic School for the Arts in Kyzyl. After completing a B.A. in National Instruments at the Kyzyl Arts College, he continued his studies at the Moscow State Pedagogical University and at the East Siberia State Academy of Culture and Art in Kyzyl. Ayan-ool has toured in Russia, Europe, and the United States. He was awarded first prize for throat singing at the 2008 Xöömei Symposium (video1 video2 video3). He sings all styles of Tuvan throat singing and is best known for his exceptional ezenggileer. He plays all the traditional Tuvan instruments, with particular emphasis on the doshpuluur.
Sean Quirk
Sean Quirk is the manager, producer and interpreter for Alash. Born in Ohio and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA), Sean’s passion for Tuvan music developed after hearing a Huun-Huur-Tu CD while he was a student at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sean set about learning xöömei and won a Fulbright fellowship to continue his studies in Tuva in 2003. Since his arrival in Tuva, the members of Alash have been his friends and instructors. He sometimes joins the group in encores at their performances. Sean and the other members of Alash are also members of the Tuvan National Orchestra.
Sean has mastered the Tuvan language and has become a passionate and respected spokesman for Tuvan music and culture both in Tuva and abroad. For this work, the head of the government of Tuva presented Sean with a medal as a “Merited Artist of Tuva” at the Naadam Festival on August 1, 2008.