As shared by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage
by Kirby Ewald
In June, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and Music Unbound signed an agreement that expands beyond the existing Heritage in Motion project. It establishes a framework for joint programming and knowledge exchange, signaling shared, long-term commitment to preserving and elevating cultural heritage in Kazakhstan. The five-year agreement will allow the Center and Music Unbound to collaboratively facilitate research, publication, and public programming opportunities in both Kazakhstan and the United States.
“Music Unbound has been an extraordinary collaborator in helping us listen more closely to Kazakhstan’s living traditions, and this agreement gives us the structure to keep building on that work together—through research, programming, and the relationships that make this depth of exchange possible,” says Halle Butvin, the Center’s director of strategic initiatives and external affairs. “We’re looking forward to seeing where the next five years take us.”
Building upon this moment, in August 2026, the project will support a ten-day learning exchange trip to Almaty, Kazakhstan, bringing five master musicians from Tucson, Arizona, and leadership from Southwest Folklife Alliance to Kazakhstan’s cultural capital. They will collaborate with musicians from Almaty, coming together to share repertoires and cultural heritage, experience different musical styles and instruments, and create compositions as teams.
Tucson Musician Delegation
- Gabriel Ayala—nationally renowned classical guitarist from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
- Dan Levenson—lifelong practitioner, educator, author, and performer, representing the Appalachian and Anglo-American roots woven into Tucson’s folk landscape
- Diana Olivares—opera singer, director, and founder of Las Azaleas, a female- and Latina-led musical group helping expose audiences to the work of Mexican female composers and singers through performance
- Azul Navarrete-Valera—singer, guitarist, and founding member of Las Azaleas
- Yvette Lanz—educator, singer, and violinist of Las Azaleas
Almaty Musicians
- Steppe Sons—alternative folk band mixing traditional Kazakh folk with modern styles
- DUANA—experimental folk project blending ancient steppe musical traditions with contemporary rock
- Aldaspan—multi-genre ethno-rock band performing on electric dombras (long-necked lutes)
- HasSak—ethno-folk ensemble of five multi-instrumentalists
“When world-class musicians come together to collaborate, something electric stirs between them—a current that transcends geography and language and builds meaningful relationships across cultures,” says Bryan Rafael Falcón, director of programs at Southwest Folklife Alliance. “We are proud to share the rich history and culture of Tucson with Almaty, bringing master artists from three distinct musical traditions as an expression of the diverse people who make up our city. In our collaborative play, we expect to learn much about the people and music of Kazakhstan—so that we can carry Almaty’s own rich traditions home to Tucson, where our whole community can share in them.”
This collaborative process will culminate in a showcase featuring all the performers at the conclusion of the trip. Beyond this musical exchange, the trip will deepen connections established during the spring 2026 exchange. The Center’s team will also conduct meetings and site visits with cultural heritage practitioners, continuing research and preparation for a 2027 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program.
“Cultural heritage is strongest when it’s shared, and this August, our memorandum of understanding turns a year of conversation into action: musicians from Almaty and Tucson making music together, live, for the first time,” says Dr. Raushan Jumaniyazova, director of Music Unbound. “Traditions survive not by staying unchanged, but by meeting new people and new ideas—and twenty-five years after the Festival’s Silk Road program first opened this dialogue, we’re building the next chapter of it, together, with so much still ahead.”
In October 2026, the project will link to Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals through an exchange bringing Kazakhstani musicians to Arizona for Tucson Meet Yourself. While in the States, the group will travel to Washington, D.C., where they’ll build relationships with cultural heritage professionals, connect with other Smithsonian teams, and take part in site visits around the nation’s capital.
Learn more about the Center’s ongoing work in Kazakhstan:
- Center Launches Heritage in Motion in Sister Cities of Tucson, Arizona, and Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Center Launches Kazakhstan Cultural Heritage Fund and Artisan Initiative
- Clay in Conversation: Divergences of Ceramics in Tucson and Almaty
The Heritage in Motion project is supported by Samruk-Kazyna.
About Music Unbound
Music Unbound is a public cultural organization based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that is redefining the role of music in contemporary society. Working at the intersection of art, research, and social practice, it creates projects where music becomes a space for dialogue, experimentation, and cultural rethinking. It expands the boundaries of professional artistic practice—rethinking authorship, fostering new forms of collaboration, and contributing to a cultural environment where diversity is recognized as a source of innovation and strength.
About Southwest Folklife Alliance
Southwest Folklife Alliance builds more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating the everyday expressions of culture, heritage, and diversity rooted in the Greater Southwest and U.S.-Mexico Border Corridor. Through festivals, public programs, and direct support to heritage-based artists, the organization documents and amplifies the voices of cultural workers engaged in living folklife traditions. The organization champions models of meaningful cultural work that center traditional knowledge, social equity, and collaboration.