Postcard from Bishkek

The cello is not a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument.  It is, however, one of my favourite musical instruments with its deep, mellow and evocative sound.  So I was intrigued when an email appeared in my inbox from Kickstarter, (www.kickstarter.com), announcing an appeal for sponsorship to produce a CD called “My Kyrgyzstan” by Nurmira Salimbaeva Greenberg.

For the record: Kickstarter is a web based funding platform for creative projects. I first came across them when I met the “What took you so long foundation“, who were planning a film project about Camel Milk, (see: “It’s All About Camel Cheese” and “And I Thought That I Was A Workaholic”).

People announce their plans on the site for projects in the fields of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and a variety of other creative activities, along with a short description of what they hope to do.  Then if sponsors like the particular project they can pledge a certain amount towards it and provide the requisite payment details, (e.g. credit card details).  If the target set for the project is met by the deadline then the pledge is redeemed, but if it isn’t then no money changes hands.  Each week  tens of thousands of people pledge millions of dollars to projects  which can be big or small, serious or whimsical, traditional or experimental. They represent an inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse range of activities.

To be honest, I don’t know anything about Numira apart from what I have been able to find from googling her name.

She was born in Kyrgyzstan and studied at the Conservatory in Bishkek.  She emigrated to America in 2000 and has performed as a chamber musician and recitalist across Europe, Central Asia, and the United States.  At the age of 17 she won the National Performers Competition of Kyrgyzstan and was chosen to accompany the and first lady on a diplomatic tour of Russia, Turkey, and Switzerland, where she performed for various dignitaries and heads of state.

Recently, she has been principal cellist for the Equinox Symphony and Mercury Opera; a member of the string quartet FourKnown, and the INO-trio with Olga Gurevich from Russia (a pianist), and Indra Ozola from Latvia (who plays the flute) as well as being a featured performer and lecturer for the Asia-Pacific History Foundation.

Her first CD, “Hiding Place”, which was, apparently, well received, featured some of her own innovative compositions and arrangements for cello and piano.

She studied under Alan Harris and the late Stephen Kates, and obtained her Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.  She is currently is on the faculty of Greenwich House Music School in New York City and also gives private lessons on the cello to all levels from beginner to advanced.

A diverse musician, she also performs on the komuz, a traditional lute-like instrument native to Central Asia).

For this particular project, she and her husband, Clay Greenberg, want to create a music CD which will contain a variety of folk songs and classical compositions in a multitude of styles from my Kyrgyzstan, featuring instruments which will include the cello, komuz (a lute-like instrument native to Kyrgyzstan), piano, orchestra, electronics,… and more.

Numira will be performing and Clay will be the producer and arranger; he already has experience in this field.

Donations can be anything from USD1, upwards … and, as a thank you, there are benefits for larger pledges.  The money collected in pledges will go to cover the following costs:

• Studio time for recording, editing, and mastering
• Musician’s fees, and
• The cost of producing the actual CDs and inserts

At the moment, when I looked at the site, there were only 4 sponsors and only USD110 pledged oput of the target USD6000 needed for the project, but it is still early days and the final deadline is Sunday, September  25th.

For anyone who wants to know more about the project why not visit the project page on the KickStarter website: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/506697190/cd-project-my-kyrgyzstan

In the meantime, here is a video clip from the site.  After the introduction there is a sample of Numira playing the cello with some nice photoshots:

Tags: In_the_News, People