2018 Winter/Spring Season

Brooklyn Academy of

Adam E. Max, Chairman of the Board

William I. Campbell, Vice Chairman of the Board

Katy Clark, President

Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer BAM and Aga Khan Music Initiative present Qyrq Qyz: Forty Girls

BAM Harvey Theater Mar 23 & 24 at 7:30pm

Running time: approx. one hour & 25 mins, no intermission

Directed by Saodat Ismailova Written by Saodat Ismailova and Ulughbek Sadikov Cinematography by Carlos Casas Music by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky Scenography by Kamilla Kurmanbekova Movement and lighting design by Séverine Rième Sound and technical direction by Joseph Jabbour Costumes by Hilola Sher

Produced by the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Season Sponsor:

Leadership support for the Winter/Spring Season provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

Leadership support for music programs at BAM provided by the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund. Qyrq Qyz

SAODAT ISMAILOVA KAMILLA KURMANBEKOVA SEVERINE RIÈME

DMITRI YANOV-YANOVSKY RAUSHAN ORAZBAEVA GUMSHAGUL BEKTURGANOVA

GUMISAY BERDIKHANOVA AZIZA DAVRONOVA ALIBEK KABDURAKHMANOV

TOKZHAN KARATAI MAKHABAT KOBOGONOVA ARAILYM OMIRBEKOVA

SALTANAT YERSULTAN AYSANEM YUSUPOVA Photos: Jennifer Hauck/Aga Khan Music Initiative Qyrq Qyz

PART I: EARTH

PART II: AIR

PART III: WATER

PART IV: FIRE

PERFORMERS

Raushan Orazbaeva lead , qobyz

Gumshagul Bekturganova vocal,

Gumisay Berdikhanova vocal, ghirjek

Aziza Davronova vocal, doyra

Alibek Kabdurakhmanov conductor, percussion, chang

Tokzhan Karatai vocal, qobyz

Makhabat Kobogonova vocal, kyl-kiyak, chopo-choor, , jygach ooz komuz

Arailym Omirbekova vocal, dombyra

Saltanat Yersultan vocal, zhetigen, qobyz

Aysanem Yusupova film actor (Gulayim) Wh

Qyrq Qyz—Note

Qyrq Qyz (Turkic: “40 Girls” or “40 Maidens”) and demand that the Kalmyk invaders offer is the Aga Khan Music Initiative’s multimedia compensation for the destruction they wreaked retelling of an epic poem whose origins are in a upon the . constellation of stories and legends widely known in and surely of ancient provenance. Before the battle, Aryslan, a knight from the While bardic reciters of the Iliad and the Odyssey neighboring kingdom of Khorezm, seeks the disappeared millennia ago, in Central Asia the love of Gulayim, and Gulayim invites him to performance of epic and other forms of oral join her not in love, but in war. Following their poetry remains a living tradition—essentially a victory, Gulayim and Aryslan join their lands, contemporary form of performance art in which uniting peoples from different tribes and the central figure of the bard is at once narrator, ethnicities, and build a society founded on peace musician, actor, and mime. For Central Asian and compassion. audiences, epic is not merely entertainment, but is imbued with moral values and embodies The story of Gulayim resonates with accounts by the history and social identity of clans, tribes, Herodotus and other ancient historians of female and peoples. warrior-rulers who belonged to the nomadic or “barbarian” cultures beyond the Black Sea. Like other oral epic poetry from , Qyrq Among these is Tomyris, ruler of the kingdom of Qyz interweaves elements of myth, legend, the , whose territory lay south and history, and geography. Qyrq Qyz is distinctive, southeast of the . According to Herodo- however, in the realm of gender: its main heroes tus, Tomyris led the Massagetaens in defending are female—young women whose equestrian their land against Persian invaders led by Cyrus, skills, valor, and military prowess call to mind founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty of . the legendary Amazons described by ancient Greek geographers and historians. Indeed, like Qyrq Qyz represents a vestige of the archaic the Amazons, the heroes of Qyrq Qyz may reflect currents of matriarchy that course through history as much as legend. A recent book, The Central Asian cultures, traces of which remain Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women robust today in the form of numerous legends across the Ancient World, by Adrienne Mayor about “40 girls” told and retold particularly (Princeton University Press, 2014), cites new among women (in , the Forty Girls are DNA and bioarchaeological analysis showing known under their Tajik name, Chil Duhtaron). that among the ancient nomadic groups known These legends are physically embodied in the collectively as , about one-third of eponymous names of ancient fortresses, sacred Scythian females were active fighters. pilgrimage sites, shrines, and personified geologi- cal formations such as rock outcroppings and The present production of Qyrq Qyz is based large boulders that local inhabitants perceive as on the epic story of Gulayim, the 16-year-old human figures. Pilgrimage sites and shrines are daughter of Allayar, a ruler of the semi-nomadic often draped with strips of cloth left as offerings Karakalpak people, who lives in the fortress to the spirits of the Forty Girls. of Sarkop. Gulayim receives a gift of land from her father on the island of Miueli, where One version of the Forty Girls legend includes the a fort is built for Gulayim and her 40 female names of Zoroastrian deities, underscoring the companions—young women whom she trains pervasive influence of ancient Iranian religion on in the art of war to defend their lands against spiritual and expressive culture in Central Asia. invaders. Sarkop is invaded by the Kalmyk “All around , you still find local people khan Surtaishi; Gulayim’s father is killed in who believe that fire-worshippers (i.e., Zoroastri- battle, and many Sarkopians are led away into ans) were the founders of their civilization,” said captivity. Hearing of the invasion, Gulayim and Saodat Ismailova, artistic director of Qyrq Qyz. her 40 companions vanquish Surtaishi and “In creating a structure for my adaptation of the the , liberate the captive Sarkopians, epic and associated legends, I drew on Zoroas- WhCi

Note

K AZAKHSTAN Lake Balkash

Syr Aral Dary Sea a

KARAKALPAKSTAN UZBEKISTAN Urgench Am Tashkent u Dary Bukhara

a Samarkand

The setting of Qyrq Qyz is the windswept steppe land surrounding the southern portion of the Aral Sea, which comprises the territory of present-day , a culturally and linguistically distinctive administrative region within Uzbekistan.

trian cosmogony, which deifies the four elements Among Central Asian nomadic peoples, poetic of earth, air, water, and fire. The performance verse, singing, and musical instruments were be- is divided into these four elements, and the lieved to have therapeutic powers—in particular, emotional development of the main character, the power to heal the psyche, and, by extension, Gulayim, is supported by a text that proceeds to bring about social equilibrium and harmony. through these different parts of creation.” In Central Asian , terms for “epic reciter” and “traditional healer” or “shaman” are In Saodat Ismailova’s luminous reimagination often cognate—for example, among the Karakal- of Qyrq Qyz, video filmed in the wind-scoured paks, a baqsy is an epic singer whereas among Karakalpak steppe and other locations in Uzbeki- the and Kyrgyz, a baqsy (or bakshy) is a stan is woven together with a musical score by traditional healer—evidence that both professions the celebrated Tashkent-based Dmitri developed from the same cultural practice. Yanov-Yanovsky that merges ambient sounds of the steppe and live percussion with onstage Qyrq Qyz filters the panoramic landscape and performance by a group of intrepid young female soundscape of the Central Asian epic world cap- bards—living embodiments of Gulayim and her tured by Saodat Ismailova through the prism of 40 companions. These bards perform and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky’s lambent compositional instrumental music drawn from the traditional imagination, providing a modernistic gloss on an styles and genres of epic reciters, shamanic heal- ancient tale. This is appropriate, for the story of ers, improvising oral poets, virtuoso solo instru- Gulayim and the Forty Girls is at once primordial, mentalists, and singers of female love songs. universal, and urgently contemporary.

Photo: Aziza Nuritdinova

The setting of Qyrq Qyz is the windswept steppe land surrounding the southern portion of the Aral Sea, which comprises the territory of present-day Karakalpakstan, a culturally and linguistically distinctive administrative region within Uzbekistan. Who’s Who

SAODAT ISMAILOVA (director) is one of the KAMILLA KURMANBEKOVA (scenography) most internationally visible and accomplished grew up in Almaty, and graduated representatives of a new generation of artists from Kazakhstan’s National Art Academy. She from Central Asia who came of age in the post- subsequently earned an MFA in stage design Soviet era and have established cosmopolitan from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. artistic lives while remaining deeply engaged She has created scenography, costumes, and with their native region as a source of creative stage designs for many theatrical productions, inspiration. Her debut feature film40 Days of both in Kazakhstan and internationally. Her Silence, a poignant depiction of four generations collaborative installation, Zhol, was featured in of Tajik women living in the complete absence the Central Asian Pavilion of the 2013 Venice of men, was nominated for best debut film at Biennale. She led and curated Kazakhstan’s the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, and participation in the 2011 Prague Quadren- thereafter was screened in more than two dozen nial of Performance Design and Space, which prestigious festivals around the world. Her video presents contemporary work by theater designers installation Zukhra was featured in the Central from around the world. Recent work includes Asian Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale, and costumes for the 2015 filmThe Wounded Angel, her documentary filmAral: Fishing in an Invisible by Kazakh director Emir Baigazin. Kamilla Kur- Sea won Best Documentary at the 2004 Turin manbekova presently lives in Los Angeles. Film Festival. Among many other works are nine music documentaries for the CD-DVD anthology SÉVERINE RIÈME (movement and light- , co-produced by the Aga ing design) came to lighting design by way of Khan Music Initiative and Smithsonian Folkways dance and choreography, and much of her work Recordings. Saodat Ismailova resides in Tashkent as a lighting designer has involved collabora- and Paris, and is affiliated with Le Fresnoy, tions with dancers and choreographers, among France’s National Studio of Contemporary Arts. them, Myriam Gourfink, Marianne Baillot, Mark Tompkins, and Mithkal Alzgair. Her most recent DMITRI YANOV-YANOVSKY (music) has performance was in Nos Féroces, a staging produced a distinguished and culturally unique through voice, live music, and dance of excerpts body of work characterized by a merging of from Notebook of a Return to the Native Land musical influences from his native Central Asia by the French West Indian writer Aimé Césaire, with postmodernist compositional styles of at the festival Les Rencontres Chorégraphiques and Eastern Europe. Yanov-Yanovsky’s Internationales in the Parisian suburb, Montreuil, music has been commissioned and performed where Rième makes her home. by leading and musical organizations in the US, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago HILOLA SHER (costumes) studied costume Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, design and scenography at the National Institute Kronos Quartet, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and of Fine Arts and Design named after Kamoliddin the New Juilliard Ensemble. From 2008—10, Behzod, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and subse- Yanov-Yanovsky was a composer-in-residence at quently received an MA in book illustration. She Harvard University, with support from the Schol- worked as principal costume designer at Uzbek- ars at Risk Program. During the same period, he Film, Uzbekistan’s national film company, where taught music composition at Dartmouth College. her credits include more than a dozen feature His music has been recognized internationally films. Beginning in 2000, Hilola Sher regularly through prizes and awards, recordings, and produced costumes for the Sharq Taronalari performances in prestigious concert venues. State Music Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Yanov-Yanovsky is also a prolific composer of film She has exhibited her graphic drawings in many soundtracks. From 1996—2006, he served as international biennales and had solo exhibitions artistic director of the International Contemporary in Tashkent. She makes costumes for the concert Music Festival Ilkhom-XX, in Tashkent, the only performances of well-known Uzbek singer Sevara festival of its kind in Central Asia. Who’s Who

Nazarkhan, and is the owner of the fashion Otemuratov, she is a 2017 graduate of Nukus brand Hilola Sher. State Pedagogical Institute named after Adzhini- yaz, where her focus was . She JOSEPH JABBOUR (sound and technical direc- has won first place in several local and regional tion) grew up in , Lebanon, Austria, and musical competitions and participated in interna- the US and earned an undergraduate degree in tional projects focusing on the musical legacy of electrical engineering. He began sound engineer- the Silk Road. She presently works as a teacher ing at the age of 14, focusing on live sound at Nukus Children’s , specializing in engineering, and has worked with a wide range teaching dutar. of musicians in Europe and the Middle East. He served as technical director for the Damascus GUMISAY BERDIKHANOVA (vocal, ghirjek) is Jazz Festival, and is in charge of live sound one of only two female musicians in Karakal- engineering for the Aga Khan Music Initiative. In pakstan who play the four-stringed spike fiddle addition to his work as a sound engineer, Joseph ghirjek (the Karakalpak name for ghijak). She Jabbour does general project management for is a first-year student in the Nukus branch of software systems integration. the Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts, studying in the Department of Folklore and Ethnography PERFORMERS under Gulbahar Ahimbetova. She also stud- ies independently as a shogird, or apprentice, RAUSHAN ORAZBAEVA (lead musician, qyl- of master musician Ghairatdin Otemuratov. In qobyz) is one of Kazakhstan’s most celebrated 2014 she won first prize in the Traditional Music performers on the qyl-qobyz, the archaic two- Competition named after Muhiddin Kari-Yakubov, stringed fiddle traditionally used by Kazakh in Nukus. shamans. During the Soviet era, the qyl qobyz became a central instrument of folk orchestras AZIZA DAVRONOVA (vocal, doyra) is originally and consorts that performed of from Bukhara, one of the great oasis cities of the traditional folk music as well as newly composed historical Silk Road, and moved to Tashkent, the European-style . A graduate of capital of Uzbekistan, to study at the Uzbekistan the Kazakh National Conservatory named after State Conservatory, where she was a student of Kurmangazy, Raushan Orazbaeva has per- Shavkat Matyakubov. She works as a profession- formed widely in Europe and North America as al vocalist in Uzbekistan’s State Philharmonia a member of various ensembles and orchestras. Society, where her specialty is the performance A solo recording of her performances of classic of traditional Uzbek classical repertoire maqom. Kazakh instrumental pieces was released by the Italian label Felmay. Her musicianship is also ALIBEK KABDURAKHMANOV (percussion, featured in two recent world music textbooks, chang) specializes in contemporary music and The Music of Central Asia (Indiana University is a member of the Tashkent-based Omnibus Press, 2016) and Pieces of the Musical World: Ensemble, Central Asia’s most accomplished Sounds and Cultures (Routledge, 2015). She contemporary music ensemble. A graduate of the currently teaches at Kazakh National University Uzbekistan State Conservatory, Kabdurakhmanov of the Arts, in Astana, Kazakhstan, and has been also conducts the National Symphony Orches- granted the title Cultural Figure of the Republic of tra of Uzbekistan, and is active as a freelance Kazakhstan. musician who performs widely in international festivals and projects. As a teacher and mentor, GUMSHAGUL BEKTURGANOVA (vocal, dutar) he works with advanced percussion students in is from the Karakalpak Autonomous Repub- Tashkent and has been instrumental in introduc- lic within Uzbekistan, commonly known as ing contemporary percussion music from around Karakalpakstan, a region with its own distinctive the world into the repertoire of young percussion- Turkic dialect and musical traditions. A student ists in Central Asia. of the Karakalpak master musician Ghairatdin Gulayim. Photo courtesy the artists. traditional music.Omirbekovaiscurrentlyastu richestareasfor Kazakhstan, oneofthecountry’s raised intheKyzyl-Orda regionofsouth-central ARAILYM OMIRBEKOVA fromtheWest.artists instruments andtraditionalmusicalformswith of projectsthatbringtogetherKyrgyz musical internationallyinavariety gonova hasperformed forkyl-kiyak,Kobo the canonicalrepertoire of Inadditiontohermastery languages ofart. reformulate traditionalmusicincontemporary pedagogy andhelpstalentedyoungmusicians and new approachestomusicalperformance by theAgaKhanMusicInitiativethatcultivates aprojectcreatedandsupported Ustatshakirt, studied kyl-kiyakattheBishkek-basedCentre studies,KobogonovaParallel toherconservatory K. Moldobasanova,whereshestudiedguitar. namedafter the Kyrgyz NationalConservatory mentalist fromKyrgyzstan. Shegraduatedfrom chopo-choor, ygachoozkomuz)isamulti-instru MAKHABAT KOBOGONOVA musicgroups. premier contemporary members ofBangonaCan, oneofNewYork’s from CentralAsiawerebroughttogetherwith ofState.TalentedDepartment youngmusicians withfundingfromtheUS by CECArtsLink inBandistan, aprogramsponsored to participate tional projects,andtraveledtotheUSin2016 of theqobyz.Karataihasbeenactiveininterna is seekingwaystoexpandthemusicalpotential music. Asaperformer-composer-improviser, she section oftraditionalmusicandcontemporary Kurmangazy,after andisinterestedintheinter named from theKazakhNationalConservatory TOKZHAN KARATAI Who’s Who University of Arts, inAstana,studyingtraditional University ofArts, dent intheCollegeofCulturewithinNational (vocal,qobyz)graduated (vocal,dombyra)was (vocal,kyl-kiyak, - - - - - stan. Asayoungteenager, shebeganperforming kalpakstan AutonomousRepublic withinUzbeki Gulayim) isfromNukus, thecapitalofKara- AYSANEM YUSUPOVA instrument similartoahammerdulcimer. qobyz national musiccompetitions.Shealsoplaysthe recognized inanumberofnationalandinter Yersultan’sthe Arts. talentasasingerhasbeen andaprofessorattheUniversityof performer ing fromhermother, a well-knowntraditional the traditionalvocalgenreknownas animation. Atanearlyage,shebegansinging inAstana,wherehermajor subjectisfilm Arts studies attheKazakhNationalUniversityof SALTANAT YERSULTAN and CentralAsianAffairs. ofState’sBureauSouth the USDepartment New York-based withfunding from CECArtsLink Central Asia,India,andtheUS,organizedby andcomposersfrom of accomplishedperformers musicians fromCentralAsiaundertheleadership musicthatbringstogethertalentedyoung rary and collaborationsintraditionalcontempo tage,” aprogramofworkshops,publicevents, Together: SharingCentralAsianMusicalHeri in“Playing bergenova. In2016,sheparticipated singing underthementorshipofElmiraZhana student atTashkent Institute. StateArt film project. Yusopova ispresentlyasecond-year out inUzbekfilmhistory. comedy ofthesamenameregardedasastand man—2 main charactersintheUzbekfilm Institute.In2017sheplayedoneofthe State Art a studentoffilmandtheateractingat Tashkent festivities, andin2016,shewasacceptedas as asingerinstate-sponsoredcelebrationsand and the (Fascinated byYou), asequel to a1958 zhetigen , atraditionalnomadic (film actor, roleof (vocal, Qyrq Qyz zhetigen Maftuning is hersecond zhyr , learn ) ------Meredith Monk. Photo: Julieta Cervantes Wh

Qyrq Qyz

QYRQ QYZ AND THE AGA KHAN MUSIC AGA KHAN MUSIC INITIATIVE INITIATIVE http://akdn.org/akmi The Aga Khan Music Initiative, producer of Qyrq Qyz, is an interregional music and arts education Fairouz Nishanova: Director and Qyrq Qyz program with worldwide performance, outreach, co-producer mentoring, and artistic production activities. Theodore Levin: Senior Program Consultant and Launched to support talented musicians and Qyrq Qyz co-producer music educators working to preserve, transmit, Nathalie de Groot: Program Coordinator, Geneva and further develop their musical heritage in Kirill Kuzmin: Regional Coordinator for Central contemporary forms, the Music Initiative began Asia its work in Central Asia, subsequently expand- ing its cultural development activities to include Map credit: Nathalie Héricourt artistic communities and audiences in the Middle Qyrq Qyz tour manager: John Pendleton East, North Africa, and South Asia. The Initiative promotes the revitalization of cultural heritage both as a source of livelihood for musicians and The Aga Khan Music Initiative and the en- as a means to strengthen pluralism in nations tire Qyrq Qyz artistic team acknowledge with where it is challenged by social, political, and gratitude the contributions of Dartmouth College; economic constraints. Its projects have included Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center for the Arts; and Le publication of a comprehensive textbook, The Fresnoy, France’s National Studio of Contempo- Music of Central Asia (Indiana University Press, rary Art, for their support of Qyrq Qyz’s creative 2016), a 10-volume CD-DVD anthology, Music development, and the Brooklyn Academy of of Central Asia, co-produced with Smithsonian Music and its executive producer, Joseph V. Folkways Recordings, a worldwide performance Melillo, for their initial invitation to present Qyrq and outreach program that nurtures “East-East” Qyz in the US. as well as “East-West” musical collaborations, and a network of music schools and centers that develop innovative music curricula and cur- riculum materials in the Music Initiative’s regions of activity.