London hosts Kazakh jazz band’s concert

LONDON. KAZINFORM - The concert of the student jazz band of the College of the Kazakh National University of Arts (KazNUA) was hosted in London last week ahead of the band’s performance at the Lord Mayor’s Show. The visit of the jazz band was organized as part of the Rukhani Janghyru program, as well as within the Year of Youth in Kazakhstan, Kazinform has learnt from the Kazakh Embassy in London.

The Rector of KazNUI and the People’s Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aiman Mussakhajayeva was the guest of honor of the jazz night at London’s Streatham Space Project.

Welcoming the guests of the evening, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United Kingdom Erlan Idrissov noted that KazNUI is recognized as one of Kazakhstan’s best universities that trains high professionals in various fields of culture and art. He also added that the concert is hosted on the eve of the London Jazz Festival which will be held on 15-24 November and noted that starting from 2009, Kazakhstan also hosts Jazzystan, a popular annual jazz festival.

Lovers of live classical and folk jazz, including the diplomatic corps, UK musicians, Kazakh students and representatives of the Kazakh diaspora gathered to listen to the performance of the young talented students.

In addition to such well-known Western hits as Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder and Summertime by George Gershwin, the jazz band also performed Kazakh folk songs in a jazz interpretation, such as Sugirdin Termesi, Sarzhailau and Qamazhai.

«It was wonderful, absolutely fantastic. They mix both western jazz and also indigenous Kazakh folk songs in a jazz interpretation. Young artists from the national school of arts – what better on a Friday evening? Thank you very much for bringing them over to the UK» said Sioned Elias who attended the concert.

Throughout the concert and upon its completion, the audience did not stop applauding the young talents, so the jazz band played Astana, a famous Kazakh song from the repertoire of a well-known Kazakh artist Zhenis Iskakova as an encore.

The next day, on 9 November, the band performed at the festive procession of the Lord Mayor’s Show.