by Rachel Harris

On stage at Ala Space, Almaty. Photo by Mukaddas Mijit

In October 2025, we brought together a group of musicians from Tashkent and Almaty for two concerts based on a creative exploration of maqām traditions from Central Asia. Abror Zufarov (vocals, sato), Guzal Muminova (dotar) and Sherzod Nazarov (doira), all teachers at the Yunus Rajabi Institute in Tashkent, have been working with Almaty-based independent musicians, Saniyam Ismail (vocals, dutar) and Bahadir Iminzhan (satar), to create an integrated concert programme which weaves together vocal and instrumental pieces drawn primarily from the Uzbek Ferghana-Tashkent Maqom and the Uyghur Twelve Muqam. 

The creative process has been a journey of discovery and connection for all concerned,  as documented by Mukaddas Mijit (https://www.maqamproject.uk/connecting-through-nava ), and we were pleased to be able to première the programme in its home region, and to share it with Uyghur and Uzbek audiences. Audience and media responses to the concerts suggested an openness to this kind of “neighbourly” collaboration, and its potential to foster new ways of listening to maqām in the region.

The programme highlights two maqām: Segah/Segoh, and Nawa/Navo, showing how it is possible to move seamlessly between sections of the established canons—even to the extent of alternating phrases—to create new musical forms which cross the boundaries between Uzbek and Uyghur. 

The programme is testament to the shared musical language of Central Asian Maqām fostered by centuries of movement and exchange, but also to the outstanding musicianship and openness to experimentation brought to the project by the performers. Special mention is due to Abror Zufarov, whose deep knowledge of the Uzbek repertoires and close ties to the inheritance of Turgun Alimatov enriched and enlivened the programme, and to Saniyam Ismail whose professionalism and energy drove its success.

The concert also highlighted the shared poetic repertoire in both traditions, notably the works of the 18th century poet and mystic, Baba Rahim Mashrab. We are now working to deepen and extend the collaboration with view to a curating a European concert tour in 2026. In honour of Mashrab and his hometown of Namangan in the Ferghana Valley, we are calling this tour “City of Poets”. 

 

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