The haunting sounds of traditional Mongolian music come to campus in a month-long celebration hosted by the Department of Music in the College of Arts & Sciences and The Endless Steppe Project. Two more concerts of Mongolian music are coming up, highlighting the musical legacy of composer Byambasurengiin Sharav, Oct. 20 and 22 at Barnes Hall.

“Sharav is a household name in Mongolia, but his works are seldom heard outside Mongolia’s borders. My goal in studying and performing Mongolian music has been to highlight the diverse, rich context and history of this country, people, and music,” said Joe Lerangis, assistant professor of music and Priscilla E. Browning Director of Choral Music (A&S).

The first concert on Fri., Oct. 20 at 7:30 pm features piano soloist Dr. Shuree Enkhbold and will trace the evolution in Sharav's music for piano, following his life from an upbringing in a nomadic herding family in Mongolia's eastern Khentii Province, to his experience studying in Sverdlovsk at the State Conservatory of the Urals, to his critical hand in shaping Mongolian music in the post-socialist era.

The second performance on Sun., Oct. 22 at 3:00 pm explores the sounds of the Mongolian steppe. A country of just over 3 million people with a vast expanse of land, Mongolia has produced a kaleidoscope of music over the past century. Sharav's soundscape has shaped a generation of Mongolian composers, and is linked inextricably to Mongolia's natural landscape, its mountains and rivers, and the nomadic pastoral lifestyle, said Lerangis.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.