Sainkho Namtchylak

Artist

Sainkho Namtchylak

Sainkho Namtchylak was born in the former Soviet Republic of Tuva in Southern Siberia, near the Mongolian border.
Her grandparents were nomads and her parents were both school teachers.
She studied music at the local college and went on her own to Moscow to complete her studies there.

While pursuing her normal college curriculum she also studied various Siberian lamaistic and shamanistic traditions, as well as the local Tuvan and Mongolian throat/overtone singing styles.
She then began her professional career as a folk singer with "Sayani", the Tuvan State Folk Ensemble, touring throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

In 1988 Sainkho began to work with creative, improvisational musicians in the Soviet Union, striving to blend traditional ethnic elements with modern styles.
She was a key member of the ensemble "Tri-O " and she stimulated attention from the western media because her appearance was so exotic.

Suddenly the public encountered strange tunes, songs with two voices, overtone melodies blended with jazz, new music and ambient sounds in a transglobal context.
Mongolian overtone singing was already known in the West, but now it had been liberated from its esoteric corner in the World Music reservation. "It is the moment and it is the music - categories are not necessary". This is one of Sainkho's firm convictions.
She feels her powerful roots in the Tuvan traditions and uses improvisation to express and enhance them.

Sainkho currently spends time between Vienna, Moscow, Amsterdam and Milano, when she is not touring worldwide, performing both solo and with her new ensemble.

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