User:Gerald Fritz/Tetseo Sisters

The Tetseo Sisters is a quartet of four sisters from the northeast Indian state Nagaland, that is devoted to the art and tradition of the local vocal folk music.

Th Tetseo Sisters Mercy, Azi, Kuvelü and Alüne live in the Nagamese capital Kohima. They are members of the Chakhesang (eastern Angami), one of many Naga tribes. They talk and sing in Chokri, the dialect of the region around Phek. . From early days their parents acquainted the girls with li, the traditional songs of their home region. A first appearance in front of a larger audience took place 2001 at the Hornbill festival, Nagaland's biggest annual cultural venue. They performed there several times in the following years. Growing popularity made them enlarge their radius, performing in other Nagaland places, the Seven Sister States, New Delhi und other Indian states. During Mercy's and Azi's studies the Tetseos made appearances as separate duos, the two older sisters in New Delhi, the younger ones in Kohima. Several times the sisters were invited to show their art on the occasion of official promotions as Nagaland's representatives at home and abroad, e.g. 2008 at the North East Trade Opportunities Summit in Bangkok, Thailand and again in Bangok 2012 at the Handshake Concert.

During the Hornbill Festival 2011 the Tetseos released their first album, titled „Li : Chapter One : The Beginning“.

Li
The Chakhesang have a tradional songbook, Li kukre kutiko, that consists of 223 songs. Other songs have been handed down in oral tradition in the vilages of the region. There are li for special events, love songs, children's songs, laments, war songs and songs that are related to agriculture and its seasonal activities. The repetitive „Ho-he-ho“-choirs are shared between separate groups, either supplementing or echoing one another. Achieving their complexity is thus strengthening the group awareness.

The Tetseo Sisters make use of that rich treasure of handed downs songs. They accompany themselves in some of their pieces with the one-stringed instrument tati or heka libuh.

Personal life
Mercy Tetseo (* June 16, 1982) earned a university degree in psychology of the University of Delhi, she has interrupted her professional career in favour of her musical activities. Azi Nienu-Tetseo has married in 2011 and is mother of a boy (* 2012). She is a former Miss Nagaland and earned a university degree in political sciences of the University of Delhi. She does some modelling, sings in other formations and does business in the fashion industry with her husband. Kuvelü (Kuku) Tetseo studied at University of Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College for Women and continues her studies in Kohima. Alüne (Lulu) Tetseo is the youngest of the four sisters and finished school recently.

Weblinks

 * Tetseo Sisters (Personal Homepage, retrieved August 1, 2012)
 * “There is a whole lot more to the North East than just violence and strife” (Interview, Northeast Today, March 2, 2012, englisch, retrieved August 1, 2012)
 * Tetseo Sisters (Interview, Woman's Panorama, December 2011, retrieved August 1, 2012, PDF)