Carl Linich has been a scholar, teacher, and performer of traditional Georgian polyphonic singing since 1990, and is a member of Trio Kavkasia. After being introduced to Georgian vocal polyphony through the Hudson Valley’s Kartuli Ensemble, Carl eventually went on to live in Georgia for about 10 years. He speaks fluent Georgian and has led numerous singing tours in Georgia since 2001, as well as many workshops in North America and elsewhere. While living in Georgia, Carl founded and directed a group of foreigners that sang exclusively Georgian folk songs.
In 2004, Carl completed a full fellowship MFA graduate degree in voice at Bennington College, where he also taught a course on Georgian culture and folk singing. In recognition of his work to promote and preserve Georgian folk song, Carl has been honored as a Silver Medal Laureate of the Georgian government (1995) and is the recipient of Georgia’s prestigious President’s Order of Merit Award (2009). He has worked on numerous CDs and publications related to Georgian folk music for the Tbilisi State Conservatory, the State Folklore Center of Georgia, and the International Centre for Georgian Folk Song.
Carl has toured with the Vermont-based Northern Harmony ensemble and has been leading summer singing camps for Village Harmony since 2000. He currently directs the Supruli Ensemble in New York City, the Bard College Georgian Vocal Ensemble, and sings in a family trio with his two young sons.
Carl leads workshops and also offers private instruction in Georgian vocal ornamentation, Georgian stringed instruments (chonguri, panduri, chunir) and the Georgian language.
DISCOGRAPHY:
♦ The Kartuli Ensemble – The Kartuli Ensemble (1994, independently produced)
♦ Songs of the Caucasus – Trio Kavkasia (1995, Well-Tempered Productions)
♦ O Morning Breeze – Trio Kavkasia (2001, Naxos World)
♦ Drinking Horns and Gramophones 1902–1914: The First Recordings in the Georgian Republic (2001, Traditional Crossroads)
♦ Where Everything is Music – Northern Harmony (2002, Northern Harmony)
♦ The Fox and the Lion – Trio Kavkasia (2006, Traditional Crossroads)
♦ Georgian Folk Song — The First Sound Recordings, 1901–1914 (136-page hardcover book + 4 CD anthology) (2006, International Centre for Georgian Folk Song)