Turkic music festival kicks off in Astana

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The festival of Turkic music "Astana-Arqau" has started today in the capital of Kazakhstan, Kazinform correspondent reports.

2018 is a landmark year for Kazakhstan as the country's people will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the capital. Over the past 11 years, Astana has largely gathered representatives of the peoples belonging to the Turkic civilization. Being held on a regular basis, "Astana-Arqau" festivals have made a great contribution to the revival of the interethnic interaction traditions worldwide and the strengthening of the role of Kazakhstan as a patron-unifier of the musical culture of the Turkic peoples

In the Concert Hall of the Astana Opera House that hosts the event, the audiences will be enchanted by shamanic songs, virtuoso compositions for khomus (shan-kobyz), overtone singing, epic and instrumental compositions, song lyrics of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia and Anatolia, the Volga Region, and Siberia.

As Musical Editor of the festival Muslim Amze said, about 30 performers from various countries including are participating in this festival. However, most of them are Kazakhstanis.

"For two days they will delight listeners with the live performance of the most famous compositions. We did our best to invite bright performers who are the true bearers of traditional Turkic culture," he said ahead of the festival.

He said that, as a rule, the festivals are dedicated to specific themes, for instance, the culture of nomads.

"But today's festival is of a vast coverage because there are a lot of Turkic peoples. They entirely cover Europe and Asia, and all of them are very similar in their culture, history, and worldview. Music shows that there was a time when we, in fact, were one people, that we really have common roots. Here, you will see the best performers, whose mastery is passed on from generation to generation," Amze explained.

The festival is going to amaze the connoisseurs of the Turkic world's musical heritage and become a bright event that will be retained in the memories of the residents and guests of Kazakhstan's capital.



