She participated in the commission of the Ministry of Culture that reviewed musical compositions for the competition to create a new anthem for the country. Umetalieva emphasized that only professional composers should write anthems, as creating anthem music requires special skills that may be lacking even in talented musicians. The music of the anthem should have a unique sound and differ from mass patriotic works.
“Not every composer is capable of writing music for an anthem. For example, in Russia, there were great composers, but even they could not create suitable music. Currently, the music of Alexandrov is used. I was surprised when the Jogorku Kenesh announced a competition for the people. I assumed this was done to engage citizens. Over the year, we received many works, and people showed great interest, but none of the submitted compositions were suitable,” she stated.
The musicologist explained that an anthem is more than just music; it is an epic musical call that, in the Kyrgyz context, should be heroic.
“Our anthem was written by renowned composers Nasyr Davlesov and Kalyy Moldobasanov. It is magnificent both in terms of lyrics and music. These individuals studied in Moscow, knew the rules of world musical art, and were true professionals,” she added.
“We presented three main options to the Jogorku Kenesh; the other works were not even close, as they were too simple and light. Of the three proposed, the most suitable was the option with Muradeli's music, although it was written in the 40s-50s and also did not quite match the tempo. The other two options resembled songs for mass patriotic choirs more. This is just my personal opinion,” the musicologist noted.
It is worth reminding that the speaker of the parliament, Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, voiced the idea of possibly changing the anthem in 2024, which was later supported by the president. In February 2025, the Ministry of Culture announced a competition, during which more than 700 works were submitted by April. However, none of the projects met the requirements, and the Ministry of Culture announced a repeat competition. As a result of the second competition, the Ministry of Culture presented three options for a new anthem, but all were rejected by the deputies.
