When people unfamiliar with the dombyra hear that just two strings can do this, it almost always astonishes them. In that sense the dombyra is a magical instrument, a cultural gem. The original idea behind bringing it to America was to preserve the connection to my culture — I’m Kazakh after all. It’s funny that while I was in KZ I used to make fun of the idea of going back after my studies and “Қазақстанды дамыту” (developing Kazakhstan), and then, once I was abroad, I became a proponent of this idea instead. Over time, though, this patriotism started to fade, but my interest in the dombyra didn’t. Now the dombyra helps me relax and disconnect from everyday tasks.
Әл-Қисса (a traditional Kazakh kui) (21.06.2025)
Ата толғауы (Ata Tolgauy, a meditative epic verse) (21.06.2025) Адай (a famous Kazakh kui) (22.04.2025)