The event consisted of a donation to the Gilmore Music Library and performances by college and high school students from around the country.
Gemard Guery
Staff Reporter
Gemard Guery, Contributing Photographer
Asian Crossroads at Yale — a student organization that facilitates dialogue around Central Asian culture — collaborated with the Global Music Partnership and the Consulate General of Kazakhstan to host a two-day event over the weekend.
The first day of the event included a gift from the Consulate General of Kazakhstan to the Gilmore Music Library, and the second day featured performances of Kazakh music. The event was a celebration of Kazakh and Central Asian culture inviting students and performers from all over the world.
“We are really privileged to have people from America play our music and understand our culture better,” Danat Kenzhegali ’26, a co-president of Asian Crossroads at Yale, said. “That’s going to help bridge the gap between the West and Central Asia, which is the work we do at Asian Crossroads.”
Among the performers were concert violinist Vladimir Dyo, South Korean opera singer Jinho Jeong — who flew in from Korea for the event — and the student musicians of the Global Music Partnership.
The Global Music Partnership brings together talented high school and college students from around the United States to perform solo, chamber and ensemble music. All the students chosen to perform were members of the partnership’s National Honors String Ensemble.
Led by Dyo, the artistic director at Global Music Partnership, the students prepared a special program consisting of various Kazakh songs. The students performed pieces by Kuat Shildebayev, Gaziza Zhubanova, Yevgeny Brusilovsky, Akhmet Zhubanov and other renowned Kazakh musicians.
The concert fell on Kazakh Republic Day, celebrating independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union.
On Friday, the Consulate General of Kazakhstan gifted Kazakh music scores and books to the Yale Music Library. Among the gifts was Shildebayev’s published score of Küy “Karakemer,” which was performed by the Global Music Partnership students on Saturday.
Isaac Joh — a high school junior from Medford, New Jersey — was among the eight student performers.
Dyo gave Joh and the other students their music virtually. Preparations for the performance included mainly independent rehearsals. The ensemble did not rehearse together until days before the performance.
There was a gathering in Delaware for the students to practice before their last general rehearsal on Saturday.
“It’s a very tight schedule and requires a lot of dedication and work, but the students are willing to sacrifice,” Dyo said.
Many students were enthralled by the opportunity to see Yale’s campus up close and perform on one of its stages.
The students were also excited to be contributing to Yale’s celebration of Kazakhstan’s culture.
“It’s cool that we are spreading awareness about Central Asian culture and the music because I think it’s very under-appreciated especially in the western side of the world,” Joh said.
Asian Crossroads at Yale was founded in 2022.