Musicians Spread Kyrgyzstan Music, Culture Throughout Wyoming

Feb. 20, 2006 -- Two Kyrgyzstani musicians and an anthropologist will be in residence at the University of Wyoming and will travel to Wyoming communities Feb. 27 through March 4, performing Kyrgyz music and discussing the South Asian country and its culture.

The performances are free except for the World Music Series concert at UW. Dates, times and locations of the public Kyrgyz Cultural Performances are:

Laramie -- Monday, Feb. 27, 3:10 p.m., Room 3110 of the College of Engineering building.
Jackson -- Tuesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m., American Legion Hall, corner of Gill and N. Cache.
Buffalo -- Thursday, March 2, 7:30 p.m., the Deerfield, 7 North Main Street.
Buffalo -- Friday, March 3, 12:45 p.m., Buffalo Senior Center 671, W. Fetterman Street.
Laramie -- Saturday, March 4, 7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center concert hall. This performance is part of the UW World Music Series. Tickets for this concert, available by calling (307) 766-6666 or on the Web at www.uwyo.edu/finearts, cost $7 for the general public, $5 for students and seniors.

Helen Faller, an anthropologist who specializes in Central Asia and international exchange will join two Kyrgyz performers, Rysbai Isakov, a renowned singer of the Kyrgyz national epic "Manas," and Akylbek Kasabolotov, a virtuoso folk musician. They will give teaching workshops along with the formal concerts. During their residencies, the two performers will teach audiences about Kyrgyz oral literature and musical traditions as Faller introduces their work and provides context.

The performers will treat audiences to episodes from "Manas." A trilogy said to be more than 1,000 years old, "Manas" contains more than a half million lines and is considered the world’s's longest recorded epic. "Manas" colorfully tells the life story of three generations of ancient heroes.

The Kyrgyz Cultural Performances is part of the Central Asian University Residencies Project. The project uses the arts to increase cross-cultural understanding among people in the United States and the Muslim cultural regions of the former Soviet Union. The project exposes U.S. audiences to information about Muslims and Islam that is "sensational without being sensationalist."

The Kyrgyz musicians are sponsored by the Silk Road Foundation, UW World Music Series, Wyoming Council for the Humanities, UW Departments of International Studies, History, and Anthropology, UW International Programs, and a Social Science Research Council Eurasia Teaching Grant.

Photo

Akylbek Kasabolotov, a master musician renowned for his skill with traditional wind instruments of Central Asia, is among the performers who educate American audiences on Kyrgyzstan music and culture. Kasabolotov, along with epic singer Ryspai Isakov and anthropologist Helen Faller will be in residence at the University of Wyoming and tour the state Feb. 27-March 4. (Courtesy Photo)

Posted on Monday, February 20, 2006