Tengir-Too is a new ensemble that plays old music. The group takes its name from the eponymous mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China, and is better known by its Chinese name, Tien-Shan, or "Celestial Mountains."

Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov, a gifted composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist who grew up in the city of Naryn, Tengir-Too provides a living laboratory for Nyshanov's efforts to find a voice for Kyrgyz music in the contemporary cultural marketplace. Kyrgyz music is rooted in the sensibility of nomads who inhabit an awe-inspiring landscape of mountains, lakes, and pristine grasslands. During the Soviet era, however, much of this music was lost or adapted to European musical ideals. Nurlanbek Nyshanov has helped restore its integrity and authenticity, not through an uncritical attempt to reproduce tradition, but by innovating within it. Nyshanov draws on his compositional skills to craft striking arrangements for small ensembles of repertories formerly performed by solo players. Most recently, he collaborated with Rysbek Jumabaev, a reciter of the great Kyrgyz epic tale Manas, and with performers from the Silk Road Project, founded and directed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, to create a multimedia presentation of the Manas. The Manas production was performed at the British Library and at Carnegie Hall through a collaboration between the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) and the Silk Road Project. Other members of Tengir-Too include Kenjegul Kubatova, whose lush alto voice is the perfect medium for Kyrgyz lyrical song, Gulbara Baigashkaeva, a master performer on the komuz - the three-stringed lute that Kyrgyz regard as their national instrument, and Asylbek Nasirdinov, who plays the qyl-qiyak, a two-stringed upright fiddle with archaic ties to shamanism. Special guest Zainidin Imanaliev illustrates an older performance tradition - the virtuoso soloist who is at once master instrumentalist, singer, and entertainer.

Nurlanbek Nyshanov Artistic Director, wooden and metal jew's harp, sybyzgy, choor, chopo choor Gulbara Baigashkaeva – komuz and jew's harp Zainidin Imanaliev – vocal and komuz Rysbek Jumabaev manaschi (Manas epic reciter) Kenjekul Kubatova – vocal and komuz Azamat Otunchiev – qyl qiyak

DETAILS FOR THE TOUR :

Sunday, 28th May 2006
Chatham, The Brook Theatre - Fuse Festival
www.medway.gov.uk/index/leisure/theatres/2130-2.html

Thursday, 1st June 2006
Milton Keynes, The Stables Theatre
www.stables.org

Friday, 2nd June 2006
South Hill Park Arts Center, Bracknell
www.southhillpark.org.uk

Saturday, 3rd June 2006
North Mundham Village Hall - Festival "Roots around the World"
www.rootsaroundtheworld.info

Sunday, 4th June 2006
Reading, South Street Arts Centre
www.readingarts.com

Wednesday, 7th June 2006
Aldershot, West End Centre
www.westendcentre.co.uk

Thursday, 8th June 2006__
Canterbury, Gulbenkian Theatre
www.ukc.ac.uk/gulbenkian

Friday, 9th June 2006
Cardigan, Theater Mwldan
www.mwldan.co.uk

Saturday 10th June 2006
Cardiff, National Museum
www.nmgw.ac.uk

Sunday, 11th June 2006__
Swansea, Taliesin Arts Centre
www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk