the Ensemble Georgika was formed in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 in 1989, the thirteen members of Ensemble Georgika, likely the first group of their kind to exist without government funding or support, grew up among a variety of Georgian folk music

Music of Georgia

Georgia has rich and still vibrant traditional music, which is primarily known as arguably the earliest polyphonic tradition of the Christian world. Situated on the border of Europe and Asia, Georgia is also a home of variety of urban singing styles with the mixture of native polyphony, Middle...

 and ritual dances.

Beginning as an a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 troupe that performed working, table, and ritual songs, as well as Georgian Orthodox

Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church

The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is an autocephalous part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since the 4th century AD, Georgian Orthodoxy has been the state religion of Georgia, and it remains the country's largest religious institution....

 liturgical chants, in 1990 the group was joined in performance by Aleko Khizanishvili and his trio of instrumentalists who play Salamuri and Panduri

Panduri

The panduri is a traditional Georgian three-string plucked instrument common in all regions of Eastern Georgia: such as Pshavkhevsureti, Tusheti, Kakheti and Kartli...

.