News.1
800th Anniversary of Great Mongolian State
UN resolution recognizes 800th anniversary of statehood

O.Enkhtsetseg, a representative from Mongolia, believes this international attention and next year's festivities provide an opportunity to trigger renewed interest in nomadic civilizations and to preserve and develop their traditions. A host of activities, both within the country and internationally, are scheduled to celebrate Mongolian heritage.

Enkhtsetseg addressed the meeting with the message that today's world is increasingly interdependent and rapidly changing.

“Peoples, religions, cultures and civilizations are engaged in an unprecedented level of interaction and interchange of values,” Enkhtsetseg said. “That openness and perceived defenselessness in the face of change created a natural reaction of rejection, distrust or even fear, which led to attempts to define and protect one's identity through exclusion and separation. Yet the course of human history showed that interaction and preservation of one's identity were not mutually exclusive.

“Diversity was not a threat, but a strength, and the breakthrough in information technology provided a unique opportunity to promote it on a global scale,” she added.

She said that civilizations did not have clear-cut boundaries, but flowed smoothly into one another and were greatly diversified. An example was the great nomadic civilization of the Eurasian steppe, of which Mongolia was a part.

That distinct form of civilization played an important role in the development of extensive trade networks and, for thousands of years, served as a bridge between civilizations. The role and contribution of nomadic civilizations still remains largely under-appreciated and unrecognized, and the rapid advance of globalization poses challenges to the preservation of centuries-old traditions, she said.

News.2
800th Anniversary of Great Mongolian State
Mongolia stages "Chinggis Khaan" rock opera

One of Mongolia's most popular rock groups “Khar-Chono” has teamed up with praised composer S.Tara to bring Mongolia's first rock opera, “Chinggis Khaan” to audiences in Ulaanbaatar. The opera, which will also include many other famous Mongolian artists and musicians, will be based loosely on “The Secret History of the Mongols”, the 800 year old epic written about Chinggis Khaan's empire. Organizer and general producer Kh.Bat-Ochir, director of the SmartMind Company, says “The feature of this rock opera is to bring to life our great history through music, specifically through rock and roll”. Though the opera isn't solely for rock enthusiasts, “folk chamber music will also be played as we hope to appeal to everyone,” Bat-Ochir said. The rock opera intends to draw its first curtain on April 20, 2006.

The UB Post recently sat down with Bat-Ochir to ask him about the preparations and expectations of “Chinggis Khaan” rock opera.

What can we expect to see in this rock opera?
The theme of the rock opera was taken from “The Secret History of the Mongols” and was written by Ganzorig a member of the “Khar-Chono” rock band. The writing was edited by specialist G.Bilguudei and further scrutinized by the World Chinggis Khaan's Academy B.Davaanyam and other scholars.

Why have so many scholars and specialist edit and review the writing?
Because we considered that this rock opera should be as true to the “Secret History” as possible. Although this is a rock opera, we want it to maintain the highest level of integrity. For example, due to the difficult language of the “Secret History” it was important to accurately represent what had been written so many years ago. What would it be worth for us to tell such an important story, such as this, falsely?

If it is possible could you tell our readers a little something about what they can expect when rock, meets opera, meets history?
Our “Chinggis Khaan” four act rock opera will naturally begin at the beginning, from the part of the “Secret History”, where Merged seized Borte-Ujin by force from Temuujin's home when Temuujin was absent. We are trying to show more about Chinggis Khaan's personal life, his love, his friendships, battles, personal character. The rock opera continues on until Temuujin is enthroned as the great king of the Mongol empire.

What can you tell us about the music?
S.Tara is a professional composer, he graduated from a music Conservatory in Sverdlovsk, Russia. Tara is also quite a famous composer here in Mongolia. The music has required the most of our energy. We want the writing and composition to be the best. We want to play music that is worth hearing, over and over again, even many years from now.

What type of imagery can the audience expect?
The rock opera will last for one hour and 20 minutes. But people must understand that the music is rock and rock music is very loud, though there is balance. As I mentioned before the performance will also consist of symphonic and chamber music alongside traditional music such as khoomii, solo morinkhuur, even shamanistic chants. Shamanism is a great tradition of Mongolia. Ganzorig decided to include shamanism into the opera due in part to his own personal study of the religion. Though it was met with criticism from Ch.Byambadorj, a scholar of Shamanism, he did praise the idea.

His Shaman song will be integral part to the opera. Byambadorj mentioned his concern that if a Shaman were to go into an actual prayer dance during the opera it might be difficult for the Shaman to catch the cue to exit the stage. We intend to have ten Shamanistic dancers in our opera.

In total how many artists will take part in the rock opera?
There are a total of 150 artists who contributed to the opera. The choir is consisted of 40-50 people, there are 40 dancers, 40 members of the orchestra, a 10 member folk group, and the 5 member rock band. I can't say for sure but we might include another two rock performances. To maintain the accuracy we will even have a blare horn, an instrument that was used in the 13th century to signify the start of a battle. And not to forget all the drummers.

How is the preparation going?
The composition of the opera's music has been completed. From January we will begin a formal competition to select only the perfect and most qualified singers and dancers. The competition will be open to everyone, students, professionals, even casual singers. It all boils down to that one voice we are looking for. All that is left after that are the costumes and practice. Practice makes perfect. Costumes though are a very important part of this opera. We are designing the clothes to be as true to the 13th century as possible. That goes for the musicians as well.

How will the rock opera end?
We are planing to end the rock opera with the long song “Ertnii saikhan”. But we have not decided on it for sure it because the contrast between long song and rock music might not be fitting.

Could you tell us the total expenditure for “Chinggis Khaan” ?
We believe it to be some where around Tg 60 million.

How long will the rock opera run?
The rock opera will have its opening ceremony on April 20 in the Central Cultural Palace. And we try to intend to conclude with a special performance during “Naadam”, July 11-13, 2006.

News.3
CHINGGIS KHAAN'S CAVALRY
Rides Again

One of Mongolia's most popular rock groups “Khar-Chono” has teamed up with praised composer S.Tara to bring Mongolia's first rock opera, “Chinggis Khaan” to audiences in Ulaanbaatar. The opera, which will also include many other famous Mongolian artists and musicians, will be based loosely on “The Secret History of the Mongols”, the 800 year old epic written about Chinggis Khaan's empire. Organizer and general producer Kh.Bat-Ochir, director of the SmartMind Company, says “The feature of this rock opera is to bring to life our great history through music, specifically through rock and roll”.

Though the opera isn't solely for rock enthusiasts, “folk chamber music will also be played as we hope to appeal to everyone,” Bat-Ochir said. The rock opera intends to draw its first curtain on April 20, 2006.

The UB Post recently sat down with Bat-Ochir to ask him about the preparations and expectations of “Chinggis Khaan” rock opera.

What can we expect to see in this rock opera?
The theme of the rock opera was taken from “The Secret History of the Mongols” and was written by Ganzorig a member of the “Khar-Chono” rock band. The writing was edited by specialist G.Bilguudei and further scrutinized by the World Chinggis Khaan's Academy B.Davaanyam and other scholars.

To celebrate the occasion the Mongolian Government Executive Committee has planned a series of events scheduled to take place in 2006. A featured part of the festivities will be the Cavalry Ride taking place throughout the summer months. Spectators who have flocked to Mongolia from all over the world, as well as the local citizenry, will be left spellbound as they get the opportunity to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.

A cloud of dust slowly emerges from the distant grasslands; a two-hour historical spectacle begins.

The five-hundred-man cavalry is comprised entirely of soldiers and has been made possible thanks to cooperation from the Mongolian Ministry of Defense. As the cavalry emerges out of the grassland steppe in a cloud of dust, a fearsome spectacle is relived. The sight of the procession of soldiers marching in a straight line reminds us of Genghis Khan's mighty army.

Experience the awesome power of Cinggis Khaan's cavalry as 500 Mongolian soldiers reconstruct the force that shaped history. This once-in-a-lifetime event, which lasts over two hours, runs from, July through September 2006.