FESTIVAL OF KORKYT AND THE MUSIC OF THE GREAT STEPPE: A MEETING OF HEARTS, MINDS AND MUSIC

Abstract

This is a review of one scholar’s experience of the Festival of Korkyt and the Music of the Great Steppe,which was held in Kyzyl-Orda in September 2017. The Festival included two conferences, cultural tours, andconcerts. The three-day event culminated in a visit to the Korkyt Ata Memorial Complex and a Gala Concertof musicians from across the Turkic world. Conference participants and musical guests came from manyregions of Kazakhstan as well as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Russia, Azerbaijan,Ukraine, Turkey, Yakutia, England, China, and the USA, which offered a unique chance for interculturaldialogue and exchange of music and culture. Through this experience, the author was able to understand theimage of Korkyt Ata/DedeKorkyt as a figure who binds a diversity of Turkic cultures, as well as seeing Kazakhculture and oral narrative as a living tradition in modern Kyzyl-Orda.