terika

When I asked Tenzin how he learnt to sing the way he does, he replied by saying "First you have to find a big waterfall, stand right in front of it with the water at your knees, then sing as loud as you can. keep singing untill you can hear yourself above roaring water, this could take several weeks, then when you can hear yourself, you have to find a bigger waterfall."
Terika achieves the seemingly impossible by uniting musical styles that are worlds and centuries apart.
Combining tibetan traditional with 19 century classical cello, European style jazz saxophone and deep electronica, Terika creates a unique sound that is truly genuine and heart felt.
Featuring Tenzin Choegyal (vox), River Petein (sax) and Katherine Philp (cello), the Terika project began in august 2004 with a performance at the Brisbane Powerhouse (a part of the DisOrientation series). Three years and several children later, Terika is extremely pleased with their debut album titled Acoustica Electronica. This project is a double disc package offering both a raw acoustic recording as well as a disc of electronic mixes.
We have not yet had a chance to launch the album as Tenzin is currently touring around Australia with H.H. the XIV Dalai Lama and the Namgyal monks. Tenzin Choegyal draws on his traditional Tibetan roots to create music which expresses his thoroughly modern life. Since his world music debut in 1997 in Australia, Tenzin’s cantering rhythms, soaring vocals and flute have enchanted audiences around the globe. Tenzin plays the dranyen (long necked lute), lingbu (transverse flutes) various ritual objects and is well-known for his extraordinary vocal ability.
As a child, Tenzin would listen to his mother singing in the nomadic style and he attributes much of his passion for that genre to these early influences. Tenzin feels a particular connection to the music of the wandering people of his homeland.
River Petein is a conservatorium graduate who majored in jazz saxophone. He has always been heavily involved in the Australian music scene, performing, recording and touring with some of the country's best jazz, funk, electro, hip hop and world acts including: resin dogs, soma rasa, stringmansassy, taxi, elixir, neighbourhood groove colective, rivernova, terika, pty ltd, afro dizzy act and many others. While traveling abroad to perform at World Expo 2000 in Germany with Australian jazz duo stringmansassy, he was exposed to (and heavily influenced by) the electronic music scene in western Europe and Britain. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from such fine European electronic acts including : Mystery School Ensemble and Brown, Smith and Grey.
Since returning to Australia, river has fully immersed himself in music production, focusing on the electronic aspects of new music and technology. His goal is to produce electronic music heavily laden with acoustic instruments and the human spirit, something he believes can be easily lost in modern western music.
Katherine Philp has an impressive 5 years of music industry experience as a classical and world fusion celloist. She has toured with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, was a finalist in Australia Chamber Music competition and winner of the Vada Jefferies Bach prize at Queensland Conservatoriam.
At only 21, Katherine’s career began at age 16 when she was accepted to the Queensland Conservatorium, majoring in cello performance. In addition to her role with Terrika, Katherine has been involved with other classical and folk performance groups, touring regional Queensland and performing at Brisbane’s Powerhouse and Queensland Art Gallery.
Together they are Terika :
Australian made world music with electronic edges, where ancient tradition meets modern technology.