World premiere of the Silent Steppe Cantata headlines Kazakhstan's 20th National Day celebrations

The Silent Steppe Cantata is the culmination of a unique and historic collaboration between American and Kazakh artists and performers. Renowned California-based composer Anne LeBaron (“Alpert Award”), Kazakh tenor Timur Bekbosunov (“America’s Got Talent”) and award-winning filmmaker Sandra Powers joined forces to create the production with the Women’s Philharmonic Choir and the Astana Philharmonic Ensemble to commemorate the official 20th Anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence. The project was made possible by the support of JSC Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna.

“The Silent Steppe Cantata is a bold artistic initiative, and will undoubtedly nurture new relationships among diverse cultures in the world while strengthening and enhancing artistic exchanges between the United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan,” said Steven D. Levine, President of the California Institute of the Arts. “I have been aware of the project since its inception, and remain tremendously excited and inspired by the vision it brings forth.”

The largest Kazakh newspaper, KazPravda, has deemed the Silent Steppe Cantata the most compelling and original musical performance to take place in Central Asia in the past forty years. The cantata will be performed in three languages: Kazakh, Russian and English, with music by Anne LeBaron, composer of “Uncommon Imagination”, and the first American woman composer to work with a major folk instrument ensemble in Central Asia. Kazakh singer Timur Bekbosunov, recently profiled in LA Weekly’s BEST OF LA PEOPLE 2011, will star in the production.

LeBaron’s original approach to the Silent Steppe Cantata focuses on expanding the traditional classical music cantata form into a multilingual/world-music cantata for the 21st century. The fusion of epic Kazakh poetic forms with hip-hop should appeal to classical music devotees and contemporary music fans alike. The cantata’s three-year production process was also made into the subject of a documentary, “The Nomad’s Song,” by acclaimed American filmmaker Sandra Powers.

For centuries, the territory of ancient Kazakhstan has been an important crossroads of civilizations throughout Central Asia. The original motherland of Huns and Turks, it also lays claim to being the birthplace of apples and tulips. Modern-day Kazakhstan, the ninth largest country in the world, is home to a melting pot of different cultures. For more information, please visit www.thesilentsteppe.org.