Tengir-Too is a new ensemble that plays old music. The group takes its name from the mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China, and is better known by its Chinese name, Tien Shan: "Celestial Mountains." Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov (Нурлонбек Нишонов), a composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, Tengir-Too (Too is pronounced like "toe") provides a living laboratory for Nyshanov's efforts to find a voice for Kyrgyz music in the contemporary cultural marketplace.

Kyrgyz music is rooted in the sensibility of nomads who inhabit a spectacular landscape of mountains, lakes, and pristine grasslands where the elemental energies of wind, water, and echo, the ubiquity of birds and animals, and the legendary feats of heroes have inspired a remarkable art and technology of sound-making.

Nurlanbek Nyshanov: artistic director, wooden and metal jew’s harps, sybyzgy, choor, chopo choor
Gulbara Baigashkaeva (Гулбара Байгашкаева): komuz and jew’s harp
Zainidin Imanaliev (Зайниддин Имомъалиев): vocals and komuz
Rysbek Jumabaev (Рузбек Чумъабоев): manaschi (Manas epic reciter)
Kenjegul Kubatova (Кенчекул Кубатова): vocal and komuz
Asylbek Nasirdinov (Асилбек Насирдинов): komuz, jew’s harp, qyl-qiyak
Azamat Otunchiev (Азамат Отунчиев): qyl-qiyak
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