Today marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of Shamshi Kaldayakov, known as the “King of Kazakh Waltz” and one of the great figures of the nation, Adyrna reports.
The highly gifted composer Shamshi Kaldayakov was born on August 15, 1930, in Otyrar District, South Kazakhstan Region.
His songs are widely performed across every region of the country and have gained immense popularity among music lovers. Among them, the song “Menin Qazaqstanym” (My Kazakhstan) is especially beloved. In 2005, this composition was officially adopted as the State Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The composer’s works such as “On the Sea – on the Wave”, “In the Embrace of Happiness”, “More Beautiful Than All”, “Akmandaylym”, “Aksungqarim”, “Where Are You”, “Song About Mother”, “Waltz of Joy”, “Ak Erke – Ak Zhaiyq”, “On the Shores of the Arys”, and many others are still performed on the Kazakh stage today.
Over more than 40 years of creative activity, the composer wrote nearly 300 musical pieces.
Since 1992, the International Shamshi Kaldayakov Contest-Festival has been held regularly in Kazakhstan. In Shymkent, the regional philharmonic hall and a street are named after him; in Almaty, one of the streets bears his name; and in his native village of Shauyldir, the local music school is named in his honor.
In 1991, a biographical documentary film “My Years, My Songs” was released about the composer. In 2002, a collection of memoirs and articles titled “Shamshi’s Life” was published.
