The “Temirlan & Yernat” duo is bringing the Kazakh traditional instrument, the dombra, to global audiences, proving this ancient instrument can thrive far beyond the steppe.
For Temirlan Olzhabay and Yernat Nauryz, the dombra is far more than an instrument. It is, as they describe it, a living part of Kazakh identity - a heritage passed down through generations.
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“For us, the dombra is our culture, our traditional art inherited from our ancestors,” says Yernat. “We’ve devoted our lives to taking it to the highest level and introducing it to the world.”
That mission has taken the duo far beyond Kazakhstan. Since forming the group nearly a decade ago, they have performed in more than 30 countries, from Europe to the United States, winning international competitions and building audiences well beyond the traditional world music scene. One milestone they recall with particular pride is taking top honours at the World Championship in Los Angeles in 2022.
International audiences, they say, are often surprised by the expressive power of a two-string instrument. “When we bring it into a contemporary context, it truly surprises international audiences. People can hardly believe that two strings can carry works as complex as Paganini or Mozart,” Yernat says. “When they hear it, they’re genuinely amazed.”
Part of that surprise comes from the duo’s evolving musical language. They call it “deco-modern”, a contemporary approach that combines the dombra and the classical Kazakh küy tradition - a form of instrumental storytelling - with modern arrangements, band elements and original compositions. Around 90% of their repertoire, they say, is self-written.
“Every musician has a direction that feels closest to them. I think we found ours,” says Temirlan. “It’s about bringing dombra music into a modern sound without losing its spirit.”
Among the duo’s many original compositions, one piece has resonated especially widely - “Alem”, meaning “world” in Kazakh. The track went viral on Instagram and has been used in more than 700,000 reels, helping introduce dombra music to listeners who may never have encountered Kazakh music before.
Yet the duo sees virality as secondary to a broader cultural mission. “From the beginning, our goal was to present the dombra to the world,” Temirlan says. “Everything we do comes back to that.”
That journey has also intersected with another internationally recognised Kazakh artist, Dimash Qudaibergen, famed for his extraordinary vocal range. Temirlan says the idea of creating the duo was encouraged during their student years, in part through their friendship with the singer. Dimash later invited the duo to join his “Stranger” world tour, which took them to major stages across three continents and 13 countries, including Germany, Spain, the UK and the United States.
Dimash’s younger brother, multi-instrumentalist Abilmansur Qudaibergen, has since become a creative collaborator in the duo’s ongoing “Alem” tour.
For Abilmansur, the dombra was foundational. “You could say the dombra opened the door for me to other instruments,” he says.
During the “Alem” tour, Abilmansur performs several original compositions on guitar, then moves to the piano to play instrumental versions of Dimash’s songs, with audiences singing along while following the lyrics on screen.
The duo is now working toward an ambitious next step: bringing the dombra to the stadium stage. As the duo approaches its tenth anniversary, they are planning major concerts and imagining something rarely associated with traditional instrumental music: thousands of people gathered not just to listen, but perhaps even to play.
“We dream of a stadium where twenty thousand people raise their dombras and perform together,” Yernat says. “That would be something extraordinary.”
For the musicians, that vision is about more than spectacle. It is about ensuring the dombra continues evolving not as a museum artefact, but as a living instrument capable of speaking to new generations.
