Saniyam Ismail
Ensemble

Uyghur (Kazakhstan)

Voice of the Uyghurs

Born in Kazakhstan, Saniyam Ismail grew up in a family of musicians from the Uyghur region of China. She trained with great singers such as Ayshemgul Memet at the Xinjiang Arts Institute in Urumchi, to master the art of interpreting these great musical suites. Based in Almaty (Kazakhstan) for several years now, she leads a creative life interpreting classical and contemporary repertoires.

Uyghur music is remarkably rich and original. It is rooted in a brilliant cultural past that borrows from ancient Indo-Iranian civilisations, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Turkic and Muslim cultures. Many affinities exist with the Uzbeks as a result of major exchanges during the 19th century, particularly in language, customs and music.

What they have in common is the formatting of the repertoire in large suites, comparable to the Arab-Andalusian nûba or the Tajik-Uzbek shash-maqâm. The monument of Uyghur music is the Onikki muqam, the ‘12 Suites’ performed in 12 different modes (muqam). The concept of maqam has existed for over ten centuries and has been influenced by developments in poetry, mathematics, musicology and Sufism. Originally referring to the place where music was played, the word maqâm literally means ‘station’, in this case of a melodic scale. It also means ‘high rank’ and refers to a transcendent model.

Lineup

  • Saniyam Ismail // vocals, dutar 
  • Arslan Gait // tanbour
  • Bakhadir Iminzhan // satar
  • Nazim Abdrim // dap

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