Chapter 07
Twenty-Four Recordings and Performances from Kazakhstan
7 min
This sequence is not a ranking and not a national canon. It begins with solo instrumental traditions, passes through theatre, community stages and recorded voices, and ends in current pop, rap and electronic production. Every older work below is tied to a performer or documented production because the same title can sound radically different in another pair of hands.
Begin with forward motion. Hear how repeated right-hand strokes create breadth, then watch the left hand move the argument through registers. Ulkenbayeva's control makes virtuosity serve shape rather than speed alone.
This is a test of clarity under pressure. Follow the accents inside the fast current and notice how the familiar theme gains personality from attack and timing.
The Melodiya-era catalogue identifies Akhmedyarov as the solo dombrist. Listen for restraint, internal tension and the expressive value of a small delay.
Move from propulsion to fine shading. The piece rewards attention to spacing, plucked colour and the way one gesture seems to answer another.
Use the archival performance preserved in Kazakhstan's Altyn Qor collection. Hear imitation become composition: quick ornament and register shifts evoke the nightingale without reducing the kuy to a sound effect.
6. Nurgisa Tlendiev - “Aqqu”
The swan-associated kuy reveals a twentieth-century composer's gift for melodic image. Compare a solo dombra account with an ensemble arrangement and note what scale changes.
7. Yqylas - “Zhezkiik,” in the Korkyt Ethno-Ensemble's 2021 concert
The Astana ensemble's Zhez Kiik programme brought together named qyl-qobyz players including Aknar Sharipbayeva, Raushan Orazbayeva and Zhanar Zhusupova. Listen to bow friction, overtone and dramatic register. The instrument's rough edge is not noise around the note; it is part of the voice.
This archival recording avoids the disputed modern attribution of “Qonyr” to Korkyt. Hear how Myktybayev makes sustained tones and imitation create a sound world before reading the associated story.
9. Aibek Kaliev and Azamat Bolgonbaev - UNESCO headquarters aitys, 17 May 2025
Their paired round ended in a shared Grand Prix. Follow turn length, dombra framing, laughter and the speed of reply. The exchange matters more than treating either performer as a detached solo clip.
10. *Betashar* - Kazakhstan's 2024 UNESCO nomination film
Hear the sequence of family names, bows, sung address and unveiling so the ritual's musical architecture remains intact. The public credits do not name the akyn, so this film is a documented first view rather than a fully attributed recording.
Watch the connection between Bakiya's fingering and puppet motion. The goat's tapping reveals rhythmic precision that can disappear in audio alone, while his work as an instrument maker keeps construction inside the performance story.
12. Yevgeny Brusilovsky - *Kyz Zhibek*, Astana Opera's 2017 production
The staging premiered on 10–11 February 2017; Jamilya Jarkimbayeva is an award-recognised interpreter of Zhibek's aria. Hear Kazakh diction, solo voice, chorus and orchestra working inside one dramatic form.
13. Akhmet Zhubanov and Latif Khamidi - *Abai*, Astana Opera's 2015 production
The production premiered on 25 September 2015; Talgat Mussabayev is among Astana Opera's singers of the title role. Follow how public chorus, intimate lyric writing and orchestral transition build argument.
14. Nava Folk Ensemble - excerpts from the Uyghur Twelve Muqam
Hear the ensemble at the K. Kuzhamyarov Uyghur Theatre in Almaty. The muqam cycle is an Uyghur repertory sustained by named musicians in Kazakhstan, not a colour added to a national medley.
15. Rimma Kim - seventieth-anniversary concert, Korean Theatre, 14 June 2026
This Koryo-saram selection joins a named artist, a Kazakhstan institution and a dated performance. Hear how concert voice and theatrical presentation carry community history without requiring a generic “Korean music” label.
The documented Day of Gratitude performance is a modest but attributable community selection. It restores Tatar-Bashkir organised musical life to the route instead of mentioning it only as demographic background.
17. Roza Rymbayeva - “Aliya”
The song builds patiently toward public emotion. Listen for control: Rymbayeva does not need to force every phrase for the final rise to carry weight.
18. A-Studio - “Julia”
Keyboards, saxophone and Batyrkhan Shukenov's smooth lead vocal open the Almaty-to-post-Soviet pop route. Hear the arrangement, not only the nostalgia.
19. Ulytau - “Adai”
Place this directly after the solo “Adai” from stop two. Dombra, violin, electric guitar and rhythm section reveal what rock arrangement adds, amplifies and smooths.
20. Ninety One - “IYA IYA” (19 September 2025)
Hear distinct member roles, programmed rhythm and Kazakh phrasing a decade after the group's debut. Compare it with “Aiyptama” to hear continuity without freezing Q-pop at its origin.
21. Yenlik and Al Nasr - “16 Qyz” (26 September 2025)
This is the route's current Kazakh rap selection and its clearest woman-led contemporary recording. Follow the division of verses, the compact hook and the way speech rhythm controls momentum.
22. Alexander Lim - “Zabyvai,” New Wave 2025
Lim, born in Balkhash, performed this song on the way to winning the 2025 competition. The large televised arrangement is a different present from an Almaty club or Astana institution and keeps regional biography in view.
23. Dimash Qudaibergen - “Tau Ishinde” (6 May 2025)
Listen beyond range. Track consonants, ornament, breath and the way a modern release frames a historical Kazakh song for an international audience.
24. Imanbek - “Pull Me In” (13 February 2026)
End with production rather than a national instrument. The single shows what came after the famous remix: compact dance architecture, controlled bass weight and an artist continuing to release under his own credit.
A practical music route through Kazakhstan
Give Almaty at least two days. Begin at the Ykhlas Museum, where construction and material make the instrument families legible. Follow it with a live dombra or kobyz performance at the conservatory, museum hall or a current concert. In the evening, choose either Abai Opera or a named independent artist. The contrast is the point.
In Astana, check Astana Opera for Abai, Kyz Zhibek, Birzhan-Sara or a current concert by Kazakh artists. Look at Qazaqconcert and arts-university programmes rather than assuming that the largest hall has the only serious music. Confirm date, cast and language before booking.
For regional depth, choose one route rather than trying to collect the whole country. Aktau and Mangystau lead toward western kuy histories. Karaganda and central Kazakhstan open an Arqa route. Kyzylorda connects to Syr oral traditions and Korkyt memory. Shymkent and Turkistan offer southern institutional and social circuits. Local philharmonic and museum calendars are more reliable than an old travel article.
At a wedding or community event, visitors should watch before recording and ask before publishing. Festival ensemble and performer names, and authorised recordings with recoverable credits, preserve more than a folder of anonymous clips.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about Twenty-Four Recordings and Performances from Kazakhstan
1. What is traditional Kazakh music?
There is no single genre. Major routes include dombra and kobyz kuy, aitys, zhyrau and terme, wedding practices such as betashar, epic traditions, regional song and instrumental schools. Each requires a named performer, place and context.
2. What is a kuy?
A kuy is an instrumental composition, most famously played on dombra and also connected with kobyz and other instruments. Many kuys carry a title and story, but their meaning is built musically through gesture, register, rhythm, timbre and performance lineage.
3. What is the difference between tökpe and shertpe?
They are broad listening orientations. Tökpe is strongly associated with flowing, driving right-hand traditions of western Kazakhstan; shertpe with more individually plucked, finely shaded traditions of central and eastern regions. Real schools and players are more varied than a two-part formula.
4. Who are essential dombra composers and performers?
Begin with Kurmangazy, Dauletkerey, Tattimbet, Dina Nurpeisova, Kazangap and Sugir. Then follow present performers such as Aigül Ulkenbayeva and the regional lineages taught by conservatories and family masters.
5. What is aitys?
Aitys is a live contest of improvised sung or spoken poetry between akyns, accompanied by dombra in Kazakhstan. Rhythm, wit, topical knowledge, audience awareness and the speed of reply determine the performance.
6. What is a kobyz?
The qyl-qobyz is a bowed instrument traditionally using horsehair strings and skin resonance. It is linked with Korkyt, epic and ritual histories, but it also has concert, conservatory and contemporary repertories.
7. Is Q-pop simply Kazakhstan's version of K-pop?
K-pop influenced training, visuals and fandom, but Q-pop developed through Kazakh language, local television, dance, production and social debate. Ninety One are the clearest starting point, not the entire field.
8. Which modern Kazakhstan artists should I hear first?
Try Ninety One, Moldanazar, Darkhan Juzz, Dimash Qudaibergen, Ulytau, Batyrkhan Shukenov, A-Studio and Imanbek. Add current Kazakh-language rap and independent artists from verified local bills.
9. Where can I hear music in Kazakhstan?
Almaty offers the Ykhlas Museum, Kurmangazy Conservatory, Abai Opera and changing independent stages. Astana offers Astana Opera, Qazaqconcert and arts institutions. Regional philharmonics, museums and festivals extend the map; always check current programmes.
10. How should I start listening?
A solo tökpe kuy, a shertpe kuy, kobyz, aitys, betashar, opera, a Soviet-era singer, Q-pop, independent songwriting and electronic production create contrast across twenty-four performances without pretending to be complete.
