Remembrances of Kongar-ol Ondar
Kongar-ol Ondar, the Tuvan throat singer who starred in Genghis Blues and performed multiple times for Mountainfilm audiences, passed away in his homeland of Tuva recently. He was cherished by Mountainfilm audiences, and festival director David Holbrooke and former festival director Rick Silverman share a few memories about the Tuvan legend below.
We were all deeply saddened at Mountainfilm in Telluride to hear about the death of Kongar-ol Ondar, the brilliant Tuvan throat singer and dynamic character in the great documentary Genghis Blues (Mountainfilm 1999). I don't remember the exact words, but I believe the directors (the wonderful Belic Brothers, Adrian and Roko) described him in the film as "a celebrity in Tuva in the order of Elvis, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson."
In 2009, my second year as festival director, we brought Kongar-ol back to Telluride to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Oscar-nominated film. He had lost none of his magnetism nor infectious joy and closed the awards picnic with a rousing bit of Tuvan throat singing. My kids like to remember that he called me "tall and crazy" (both descriptors probably accurate), and in turn I called him "short and crazy.”
Kongar-ol is one of the main reasons I'm involved in Mountainfilm today. My love for this festival began in 1999 when I came with my wife to plan our Telluride wedding. It was our first Mountainfilm, and we were both quite taken with it, but when we watched Genghis Blues at the Sheridan Opera House and Kongar-ol performed afterward — a surprise guest — I experienced something transcendent.
I've kept coming back in a variety of iterations and like so many others, the festival has not only changed my life but, as Wade Davis (another guest that tremendous year of 1999) says so aptly, it has forged me. I am deeply grateful to Kongar-ol for that.
I am also grateful to the man who orchestrated the brilliant screening: former festival director Rick Silverman. As many of you know, Rick has a wonderful way with words, and he sent the filmmakers an note that I have copied below, knowing full well that it is usually best to let his eloquence speak for all of us at Mountainfilm as we celebrate the life of Kongar-ol Ondar.
—David Holbrooke
Good Roko, Adrian, Tuvans and Friends of Tuva,
In the death of Kongar-ol Ondar the world has lost a great voice and one of its most extraordinary seers. He brought the magic of Tuva to the world, and how lucky we were that he and his daughter chose to share some time, laughter, and wisdom with us in Telluride. That the stars could have aligned to bring Ralph Leighton, Richard Feynman, the Belic brothers, and Paul Pena together with Kongor-ol, an ensemble of unimaginable grace and conviction, is a story that defies credulity — and yet their friendship and depth of understanding spanned continents and cultures, chords and concert halls.
Tuva could have had no better ambassador, throat singing no finer voice. His life embodied the simple truth that music and storytelling transcends borders, eludes the limitations of international phobias, and open the eyes of men or nations without sight.
Kongar-ol Ondar was a giant of a man. His voice filled our theaters and our hearts, and his presence stirred our blood. I imagine him now astride a horse, his soul at peace with the trail he had traveled, the friends he had made, and the gusto that he now brings to distant galaxies.
—Rick Silverman
(Or maybe he and Paul are just picking and playing, laughing at short wave radio and longtime harmonies).
