From Hovd Travel in Mongolia
D. Tserendavaa
Tserendavaa is one of the most famous Khoomii singers from Mongolia. A nomadic shepherd from Hovd aimag's Chandmani soum, Tserendavaa has developed his throat singing skills to a virtuosic level and taught his son, Tsogtgerel, the techniques of his forebears. Both father and son are among the rare performers who can simultaneously combine singing lyrics and harmonic melody. Tserendavaa has worked with an Ulaanbaatar based musicologist named Badraa to help shape the study and classification of Khoomii music. Together, they divided Khoomii into seven categories: uruulin (labial), tagnain (palatal), bagalzuurin (glottal), khamarin (nasal), khoolooin (throat), tseejni (chest cavity), and finally khosmoljin (a combination of all of the above). Tserendavaa distinguished these varieties from kharkhiraa, which in his view should be classified separately because it is not a melodic style.
Below is a video of a solo performance by Tserendavaa as he supports his son Tsogtgerel's first headlining performance at the Hovd Theater on January 16, 2009.
