Spring Fervour!

This year there is a notable 5 week gap between the celebration of Easter in the UK (the last weekend in March), and Orthodox Easter in Georgia (the first weekend in May). Because of the differences between the Julien and Gregorian calendars, this gap averages out at around a week. Very, very occasionally the celebrations in eastern and Western churches coincide; this year the gap is just about as wide as it can get. The result? Spring should well and truly have sprung by the time that Chela and Buska throw open the doors of St Andrew’s Church, Chesterton, and invite you to their celebration of Easter and Spring. Reserve your seats now at chelatickets@gmail.com.

Orthodox Christmas Wassail

Well, today is December 1st, and winter is definitely upon us. Time to turn up the cheer volume, and look forward to some seasonal harmony.

Chela and Buska cordially invite you to their annual wassail on Orthodox Christmas Day, 7th January 2024. We will be offering our usual mixed programme of many/few voices, secular and religious songs, including a couple of very atmospheric chants learnt in Georgia this year. Plus Georgian wine in the interval!

Tickets sales are already buoyant (as they say), so reserve your seats now: chelatickets@gmail.com.

A concert for St George’s Day

St George is not only the patron saint of England, but of Georgia too (although the Georgians themselves actually call their land “Sakartvelo”). This year Orthodox Easter Day falls on the Sunday before St George’s Day, so we thought it would be fun to celebrate both festivals with a concert combining Georgian Easter sacred music, patriotic folk songs, and, of course, ballads that speak of the arrival of Spring.

Join us in St Clement’s Church, on Bridge Street in Cambridge at 6pm on Sunday 23rd April. We will be offering Georgian wine in the interval, and our CD “Gaumarjos” will be on sale at a special concert price of £8. We recommend that you reserve seats in advance – email chelatickets@gmail.com – as demand promises to outstrip supply.

An Orthodox Christmas Wassail

….. in Grantchester! Exactly three years since our last public concert, Chela and Buska are going to be singing seasonal carols and uplifting folksongs from the Caucasus on 7th January 2023. We are going to be trying out a new venue on the edge of Cambridge – Grantchester Parish Church. It is an enchanting space, with candles lighting the aisles, and a wonderful acoustic too. Audience comfort has not been forgotten – the pews are electrically heated.

Lift yourself out of the post-Xmas blues, enjoy inspirational singing, a glass of Georgian wine at the interval, and copies of our CDs at a special concert discount price. Reserve your place in advance to ensure that you get the best seats in the house.

“Gaumarjos!” now on Bandcamp…

The digital version of Chela and Buska’s new CD can now be purchased from our Bandcamp page – https://chelabuska.bandcamp.com/album/gaumarjos. All proceeds go towards further training of the choir (for example lessons with Georgian teachers) and charitable causes in Georgia, supported by St. Gregory’s foundation (http://stgregorysfoundation.org.uk)

It’s our first album!

Despite having our live concert plans frustrated, Chela and Buska have not spent the last few months only painting our nails and twiddling our beards. Hard at work behind the scenes, a dedicated team has picked out the cream of our concert recordings from recent years, and compiled a CD of 17 live tracks – our very first album! Called “Gaumarjos!”(which literally translates as “Victory!”, but has come to be used the same as “Cheers!” or “Prost!” as a toast to good health), the album has the same mix of rugged working songs, tender love ballads and millennium-old sacred chants that feature in our concerts.

The CDs come with a full-colour illustrated booklet with background notes on Georgian polyphony and regional variations, as well as information on the meaning and/or provenance of the individual tracks. It is available by mail-order at £10 plus postage and packing. Please email Boris at borkouz@hotmail.com for details about ordering and payments.

An Orthodox Christmas Wassail

You are cordially invited to a concert by Chela and Buska, the Cambridge Georgian Choirs, to celebrate Orthodox Christmas (which falls on the following day).

When: at 7:30 pm on Monday 6th January 2020

Where: Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge, CB5 8BL (access via the Porter’s Lodge, off jesus Lane)

Entry is free, but there will be a retiring collection to support training of the choir and charitable causes in Georgia.

To reserve seats, please email:
chelatickets@gmail.com

A Midsummer’s Day Concert

On 24th June at 7.30pm, join Chela and Buska for a songful celebration of Midsummer’s Day in Emmanuel United Reformed Church on Trumpington Street in Cambridge. The choirs will be singing a mixture of folk songs and city songs, wedding songs and harvest songs, as well as a few religious songs, both Christian and Pagan. In the interval we will be offering Georgian wine and soft drinks in return for a donation. As has become a Chela tradition, we will not be charging for entry to the concert, but ask that you give as generously as you are able as you leave, as all profits go towards supporting homeless children in Tbilisi as well as Georgian singing teachers visiting the UK. You can reserve yourself one of the best seats in the house by emailing: chelatickets@gmail.com

 

A Georgian Christmas Wassail

A concert by Chela and Buska, the Cambridge Georgian Choirs, to celebrate Orthodox Christmas:

When: at 7:30 pm on Monday 7th January 2019

Where: Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge, CB5 8BL

Entry is free, but there will be a retiring collection to support training of the choir and charitable causes in Georgia.

To reserve seats, please email:
chelatickets@gmail.com

Ialoni return visit

By popular demand, Ialoni are making a return visit to the UK, and Chela are lucky enough to be able to host them at Little St Mary’s Church again. Save the date: Friday, 7th September at 8pm. Free entry, but make sure of a good seat by emailing chelatickets@gmail.com.