• Music

    Yunchi Ensemble – Aleksandrovka, Milyanfan: Dungan Music from Kyrgyzstan

    July 22, 2023 - By 

    Yet another amazing collection has been released by Antonovka Records, now based in Moldova.  This collection features a Chinese Muslim ethnic group called the Dungan who live in the passes between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and surprisingly, they don’t write in Chinese, but in Cyrillic! From Antonovka’s Bandcamp site: “Most of the members of the ensemble Yunchi (“Happiness”) live in two Dungan villages in the Chuy region of Kyrgyzstan – Aleksandrovka and Milyanfan. Aleksandrovka is located in the Moskva district to the west of Bishkek. The village was named after the Emperor Alexander II of Russia, during whose reign the Dungans…

  • Music

    Raushan Orazbaeva – Akku

    April 15, 2023 - By 

    Today’s selection, as we end the Harrowing of Hell and prepare for Pascha this evening, is from Raushan Orazbaeva, a dombra player from Kazakhstan.  This is pure music from the Central Asian steppes, mournful, solitary and strikingly beautiful.

  • Music

    Erkin Sadykov & Abdugheni Abdurusul – Secret of the world. Archival recordings of Uyghur music from Kyrgyzstan

    January 6, 2021 - By 

    There is little information available on Uyghur musicians Erkin Sadykov (vocal, dutar) and Abdugheni Abdurusul (tambur), but the quality of these recordings show a warm, sensitive interpretation of music we’re watching disintegrate before our eyes.  Thankfully, Kyrgyzstan allows their Uyghur minority to live and protect their traditions in peace.