ABOUT
Echoes in the Valley (EITV) Festival of Folk Music was established in 2017 with the goal to bring together a vast range of folk, traditional and indigenous sounds from Nepal and around the world. The festival is the only free international event in Nepal to celebrate folk tunes and the heritages and cultures that are tied to the ecosystem of the music.
EITV is more than just a festival. It is a movement. The festival takes place once a year, but we support Nepali musicians and Nepal’s music year-round. We understand both the fragility and strength of the ecosystem of music-making. We know that organizing a festival is one aspect of a much larger picture. This is why we spend our energies at strengthening the musical culture, education, resources, artists and behind-the-scenes players that make up what we know as the musical scene of Nepal.
FESTIVAL TEAM
Arun Gurung
Technical coordinator
Apart from being a rock bass guitarist, he manages Kutumba. Having acquired technical knowledge on sound and also being an active media person, Arun handles all the technical aspects of the band. He actively oversees all band engagements, and is the creative head for all projects both nationally and internationally.
Jiwan Thapa Magar
Performance coordinator
Jiwan is a Letang born, faith-based singer, songwriter and musician. He is currently based in Kathmandu and has worked in various music projects as a music arranger and session guitarist. An ethnomusicology graduate from Kathmandu University Department of Music, he is a multi-ethnic music culture enthusiast.
Nischal Tuladhar
Financial advisor
Certified accountant Nischal is a financial maestro and solo travel enthusiast. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he navigates numbers, ensures compliance, and adds excitement to business endeavors.
Pooja Poudel
Experience coordinator
Pooja is an artist and writer with a passion for storytelling that often materialises in the form of short fiction. She actively collaborates with organisations, facilitating exhibitions, residencies, and workshops.
Riju Tuladhar
Co-founder/director
Riju has been a professional bass player for two decades. Head of the western band ensemble department at Nepal Music Centre, he also teaches at the Kathmandu University department of music. Riju is a member of KantaDabDab.
Rojina Tamang
Volunteer coordinator
Rojina is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and she works as an archivist at the Nepal Music Archive. With continuous practice and learning, she actively seeks opportunities to apply her growing knowledge in computer science to enhance her creative endeavors and projects in archiving.
BOARD & ADVISORS
Anna Stirr
Advisor
Anna is an author, researcher, professor, singer, flutist, and percussionist. She holds a BA in music and religious studies from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, and an MA, MPhil, and PhD in ethnomusicology from Columbia University. She has taught at Oxford University, Leiden University, and the New School. She performs Nepali folk music, and is an associate professor of Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii Manoa.
Barta Gandharba
Advisor
Barta is a folk singer/songwriter, composer and sarangi player. A graduate of Lalit Kala Campus and Nepal Music Center, she has taught at the University of Agder in Norway, Nepal Sangeet Vidhyalaya and Arya Tara School. She has participated in The Voice of Nepal, and has collaborated with many artists.
Jhuma Limbu
Advisor
Trained in classical and western musical traditions, Jhuma is a singer and researcher of folk music in Nepal, particularly of the Limbu tribes from the far eastern region of the country. Her new album 'Mundhum,' is inspired from the tradition of Limbu vedic chants and repartee between boys and girls, an important part of Limbu musical culture.
Dikshant Uprety
Advisor
He is a Research Affiliate at Carolina Asia Center, UNC-Chapel Hill. Dikshant got his PhD in Ethnomusicology from the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, USA and conducts research in the field of music and development.
Niraj Shakya
Member
He is a founding member of the black-metal band Antim Grahan, and folk band Night and performed in various national and international prestigious music festivals. He is also involved in song arrangements and creating background score for movies, documentaries and theatre play.
Pushpa Palanchoke
Advisor
As the only woman pursuing her MA in Ethnomusicology at Kathmandu University, Pushpa is the recipient of the prestigious Nepal Chatra Vidhya Padak and Nepal Vidhya Bhusan national awards. Her academic interests are applied ethnomusicology, gender, rituals, and sustainability of, and through community music. Compassion is her way of life.
Rajan Shrestha
Member
Rajan is a Kathmandu based inter-disciplinary artist working primarily with music and produces music under the moniker of phatcowlee. One of the founding members of Fuzzscape, a platform for cultural documentation with focus on music, archival and storytelling through audio-visual medium, Rajan is an ethnomusicology scholar.
Vilma Timonen
Advisor
Vilma is a musician pioneering in promoting the Finnish national instrument, Kantele, through various artistic settings including her own ensemble, the Vilma Timonen Quartet. She has worked comprehensively in theatre and contemporary dance productions. In addition, Vilma is a researcher and lecturer at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts in Helsinki.
Sunit Kansakar
Co-founder/member
Sunit has been playing guitar and sitar for the past 20 years. In addition, he is also a sound engineer and a music instructor at Nepal Music Center. He is a member of KantaDabDab and Mukti and Revival.