Georgia Singing Journey

Nino Naneishvili holds a Bachelor of Arts in Piano, a Master of Sacred Music from Tbilisi State Conservatory, as well as a PhD in ethnomusicology from Ilia State University. Nino is a lecturer at the University of Church Chant and at Rose Bruford College in London, as well as an assistant professor at Giorgi Mtatsmindeli University. She has published several articles on the Georgian singing tradition, especially on sacred music. As an award-winning singer, she was a member of various folk ensembles and church choirs such as the Sathanao choir and the Alilo Ensemble. She has performed and offered workshops throughout Europe. Nino also served as strategy coordinator for the Ministry of Culture from 2015 to 2016 and has been guiding annual tours in a dozen Georgian regions over the past 20 years.

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Holly Taylor-Zuntz is a singer, choir director, and voice leader known for her deep knowledge of and passion for Georgian polyphony. A graduate of Rose Bruford College in ensemble theatre, she has spent many years travelling across Georgia, learning traditional songs directly from village singers and tradition-bearers. She studied with Frank Kane, a leading specialist in body vibration and resonance in Georgian song, and brings this embodied approach into all her teaching.

Holly is the founder and director of Oxford’s Georgian choir Perebi, teaches the Bristol Georgian choir Tsiali, and leads workshops across the UK and internationally. She sings with London’s Georgian choir Maspindzeli and has performed and recorded with the acclaimed women’s ensemble Ialoni.

She is also co-founder and co-host of Voices of the Ancestors, the only podcast dedicated to sharing the stories and songs of Georgian women singers with listeners around the world.

Dr Swan Dao is the founder of the Institute of Devotional Arts, which designs learning and healing experiences through the expressive arts. Swan studied and taught philosophy, theology, psychology,and theatre in Oxford, Melbourne, Paris, and Chicago, and earned a PhD from the University of Cambridge, focusing on self-transformation and system change.

A certified coach and psychotherapist, educator, and experience designer, Swan has worked with Fortune 500 companies and spoken at leading conferences across 20 countries. He collaborates with educational and artistic institutions such as the Alef Trust, the Roy Hart Centre, and Arthaus Berlin, and has designed experiences for such events as the World Economic Forum, the Arts & Peace Encounter at the Caux Palace, and Europe’s premier trauma conference at the University of Oxford.

Blending social science, embodiment, and theatre, his work revives the original spirit of both art and psychotherapy: tending to the soul with depth, creativity, and care.

Avtandil Turkia (Avto) is a singer, ensemble director, and music teacher with a lifelong dedication to Georgian traditional song-chanting. Coming from a family of singers, Avto’s heritage is steeped in music. He holds both a BA and an MA in traditional Georgian folk singing from Giorgi Mtatsmindeli University and Shota Rustaveli Theater University. Avto currently leads the ensemble “Mkhedrebi” and serves as the head of music at the Khukhunaishvili school. Together with his family — his mother Laliko, his wife Ninutsa, and their baby boy — Avto warmly welcomes guests, offering them an authentic connection to the soul of Georgian folk music.

The Turmanidze Family are a renowned singing family from the mountain village of Merisi in Ajara, Western Georgia. For generations, they have kept alive the region’s vibrant polyphonic traditions, weaving earthy bass lines, agile ornamentation, and playful improvisation into their songs. Their home is a place of warm hospitality, where guests are welcomed like kin, fed with abundant homegrown food, and invited to join in late-night singing around the table. With the Turmanidzes, music is not a performance but a way of living, sharing, and remembering.

Besiki (Beso) Chitanava is a Megrelian singer, folklorist, and cultural guardian based in Zugdidi, Samegrelo, Georgia. Founder of the Folklore House of Zugdidi, he has created a living museum where visitors experience Megrelian traditions through song, cuisine, and storytelling. A gifted host and performer, Beso brings ancestral music to life around a shared table, blending heartfelt hospitality with deep cultural knowledge. Trained in traditional Georgian polyphony, he has dedicated his life to preserving and teaching regional songs from Samegrelo and beyond. His Folk House is both a home and a haven — where music, memory, and community intertwine.