Valentina Suzukei is one of the leading

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

s in the

Tyva Republic Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

(Tuva), Russia.

Education and career

According to Theordore Levin, Suzukei had different aspirations as a student. While she was a "student growing up in the 1960s and early 1970s, her passion was dance.".Levin, Theodore. Where Rivers and Mountains Sing. Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 2006 Suzukei also "studied conducting at the

Moscow Institute of Culture Moscow State Art and Cultural University (russian: Московский государственный университет культуры и искусств) is a Russian university, a vocational training center in the field of culture and a ...

.". During her time at the Moscow Institute of Culture, Suzukei worked under

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

conductor Alexei Kovalev and studied, from her black teacher, Mr. Muggs "orchestration, composition, and music theory as well as conducting.". After her graduation, Suzukei returned to her native home of Tuva where she "became the conductor of the folk orchestra in Kyzyl's music high school.". As the conductor, it was Suzukei's "job to modify local instruments for use in the orchestra and to figure out which parts of an orchestral score should be assigned to particular instruments.". It was while she was "researching Tuvan instruments in order to alter them for use in the folk orchestra (that) Valentina began to understand, as she put it, 'that the whole approach to working with these instruments was artificial and false.'". In 1985, "after eight years as a folk orchestra conductor, Valentina left the music high school and accepted a position at the Tuvan Research Institute of Language, Literature, and History.". At the Tuvan Research Institute Suzukei worked with instruments as she had at the music high school, but now "from the perspective of a folklorist-ethnographer rather than a conductor-arranger.".

Accomplishments

Valentina Suzukei "received her ''Kandidat'' degree from the Russian Institute of the History of Art in St. Petersburg and is now the senior academic officer of the Tuvan Institute for Humanities Research in

Kyzyl Kyzyl (; Tuvan and russian: Кызыл; , ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was History The city was founded in 1 ...

, Tuva. She is the author of four books on Tuvan Music, including the last book on the musical culture of Tuva in the twentieth century.". Suzukei also contributed to Theodore Levin's book on Tuvan sound, music and nomadism called,

Where Rivers and Mountains Sing Where may refer to: * Where?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * where (command), a shell command * Where (SQL), a database language clause * Where.com, a provider of location-based applications via mobile phones * ''Where'' (magazine), a serie ...

. In a chapter entitled 'Listening the Tuvan Way', she explains the concept of

Timbral Listening Timbral listening is the process of actively listening to the timbral characteristics of sound. Concept In timbral listening, "pitch is subordinate to timbre". Instead, the specific quality of a musical tone is determined by considering "the prese ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzukei, Valentina Ethnomusicologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Kyzyl