Lesson 8: Kazakhstan and Xinjiang

This week in music class we venture to the vast Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan and to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of Western China where we pay a visit to the Uyghurs.

START HERE:

— OVERVIEW: “Kazakstan is a landlocked Central Asian nation that is physically larger than Western Europe but has less than twenty million people….”

— MUSIC: As one may imagine from learning about Uyghur history, Uyghur music is a nuanced mix of Central Asian, Chinese and many other influences . . .

— LANGUAGE: Uyghur is a Turkic language spoken by about 10 million people in Central Asia, 9 million of whom live in Xinjiang . . .