by Mukaddas Mijit

Connecting through Nava: Documenting Shared Musical Heritage with Uzbek and Uyghur Musicians in Tashkent, March 2025

In March 2025, we embarked on a one-week field trip exploring the connections between Uzbek Maqam and Uyghur Muqam practices with few outstanding musicians. Our journey led us to the Yunus Rajabi Institute of Traditional Music in Tashkent- a landmark institution for Uzbek musical heritage.

For this initial phase of our project, we brought together four musicians: two from the Uyghur tradition and two from the Uzbek tradition. Representing the Uyghur diaspora in Kazakhstan, we had the privilege of having Saniye Ismayil – a renowned singer, composer, and long-standing figure in the diaspora’s musical landscape. She was accompanied by Bakhadir Iminzhan, a promising 18-year-old musician from Chilek, and one of her close artistic collaborators.

On the Uzbek side, we had the honour of collaborating with Abror Zufarov, a master musician and composer, and Guzel Mominova, a researcher and musician currently preparing her PhD on the use of traditional Uzbek music in music therapy.

Before meeting in person, the four musicians and we had already begun exchanging ideas in a group chat. Though tentative at first, this early dialogue- facilitated by Rachel Harris- helped shape a shortlist of pieces that would later serve as the foundation for their collaboration. Upon our arrival at the Yunus Rajabi Institute, we were warmly welcomed with a tour through the departments, meetings with virtuoso students, and a concert created by Zufarov’s students.

Our three-day rehearsal took place in one of the institute’s rooms. From the very first session, a musical and emotional connection became evident- particularly between Saniye Ismayil and Abror Zufarov. There was an unmistakable resonance in their musical interactions. The linguistic proximity between Uzbek and Uyghur further eased communication, allowing artistic intuition to flow freely. Musically, we were plunged into what felt like an infinite web of historical and cultural connections. The more the musicians played together, the more they uncovered deep structural and melodic affinities.

One of the central moments of this encounter was the rehearsal of Nava Muqam/Maqam. As a central piece (suites) in each musician’s repertoire, Nava provided a natural meeting point. It was during this session that we all experienced what Jean During describes as “quelque chose se passe” a moment of intangible yet palpable connection, when a well-understood musical dialogue opens a space beyond words.

A particularly moving thread during the rehearsal of Nava was the poetry of Shah Mashrab, a 17th-century Sufi poet and musician whose verses continue to resonate across both traditions. His legacy acted as a bridge—not only between musical systems, but also between generations, diasporas, and lived histories. Saniye Ismayil spoke of her deep connection to the “source,” as she described it, while listening to Abror Zufarov singing Mashrab’s poetry, on Uyghur Nava Muqam’s Jula.

There was also an intense moment of uncovering the Uyghur way of placing words on melody, which led everyone to explore the rhythm of Jula on their instruments. They then chose to give each musical phrase the space to freely play with the meter- allowing expression to lead, rather than structure.

This encounter in Tashkent was not merely a rehearsal- it was the beginning of a conversation rooted in memory, creativity, and collective listening. What emerged was more than a shared program: it was a reaffirmation of cultural kinship through music.

 

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