Sagymbay Orozbakov (1867—1930) was born in the village of Kabyrga, located on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, in a family of a musician-surnaychi. His father, Orozbak, served the khan of Issyk-Kul, Ormon. At the age of nine, Sagymbay began to learn Arabic script under the guidance of an Uzbek mullah, as well as to sing and compose. He became fascinated with the epic "Manas" at the age of fifteen after hearing performances by the famous manaschy of that time, Chonbasha, Tynybek
Salamat Sadakova (born 1956) is one of the contemporary professional folk singers, a People's Artist of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (1995), and a talented interpreter of lyrical repertoire. She was born in the Batken region of the Osh province. In the folk theater of the Kara-Buura district in the Talas region, she played several roles and performed in concerts with lyrical songs. This determined her choice of profession. In 1988, Sadakova was invited to the Kyrgyz State Philharmonic as a
Myskal Omurkanova (1915—1976) — an outstanding folk singer. She was born in the village of Epkin in the Jumgal district of the Naryn region. She began her artistic career in 1936 when she won first prize at the All-Kyrgyz Olympiad of Folk Art. When she joined the Naryn Regional Musical and Dramatic Theater in 1940, Myskal already had some performance experience in her native village of Chayek, in the so-called collective farm theater. Her rich, velvety voice, unique in timbre, range, and
Musa Bayetov (1902—1949) is the author of four dozen songs. The best of them are created in lyrical genres. Even in his youth, when Bayetov began his creative activity at the Naryn city radio station as a performer, he created the songs "Milaia" ("Zharoo-ker") and "Prosyipayus" ("Oygonom"). Later, as a soloist of the Kyrgyz State Philharmonic, he composed the famous songs "Mudraia" ("Daanishman") and "Uchilsia ya v stolitse"
Atay Ogonbaev (1900—1949) entered the history of Kyrgyz folk musical culture as a versatile musician, singer, komuz player, and author of beautiful lyrical songs. His best works are distinguished by their spirituality and exquisite style. Songs such as "Burned to Ashes" ("Kuydum chok"), "I Remember" ("Esimde"), "Youth" ("Zhashtar"), "Longing" ("Sagyńych"), "Flower" ("Gul"), "Oh,
