Spring concert by INRTU’s Ethnobit: a premiere flute act, mix of folk, rock and jazz

According to Natalya Vlasevskaya, head of the Ethnobit studio, firstly a review concert helped to delight the audience with creative innovations and to get together after the winter break.

«Our first-year students started preparing for the concert last semester, right after Ethnobit’s 15th anniversary celebrations. Andrei Martseniuk, a student, is actively involved as a tutor. For almost four months the novice percussionists have been mastering the technique of playing Japanese drums and new rhythms for the telescopic percussion.

The senior line-up began rehearsals in February, having returned from the St. Petersburg festival «More than a Journey». By good tradition, we were also joined at the concert by graduates of the polytechnic school. Cooperation between different generations is good for the professional growth of the band members. I am sincerely grateful to the graduates for generously sharing their achievements," said Natalia.

The program included 25 acts. The concert was opened with a story by Aist TV about participation our drummers in the filming for New Year’s Eve movie. It should be noted that the project, titled 'Next Stop is New Year', was shown to viewers on TV on December 31, 2021.

The studio first performed Oikaze (Jap. Faster Than Wind), based on Japanese folklore. The piece is based on the work of the group Taishin, directed by Professor Kawaguchi (Tohoku University). Performing with Oikaze, the drummers were performong for the first time in new costumes by designer Anna Glazyrina.

«The Arabic-inspired act 'Rhythms of the Night' by our graduate, graduate architect Oleg Uvarov is also new. We assembled a real orchestra of oriental instruments from darbuk, dafs, dohollah, sagat, rik, frame, and cong. Next time we are planning to invite dancers.

This time the composition 'Afro-Peter' was performed in a new way. We showed it on the screens as a fragment of a New Year’s Eve film produced by Aist TV», says Natalia.

«Ethnobit is grateful to fellow musicians for their participation in preparing the melodic block of the concert. This section included the premiere of the cover version of the song «Mama’s Bossa Nova» (Pelageya band).

A future architect Kristina Afanasieva, took part in almost half of the concert. During the evening, she played Asian dun-dun, taiko and buke drums, tinkling cymbals and the West African jumba. Two of the most unusual instruments were made from the dried plants. The Latin American guiro was made from the fruit of the hollandaise tree, resembles a mixture of a bottle and a washboard. Due to the serrations, it makes a chirping sound. A pumpkin shaker decorated with beaded netting produces a similar effect.