The Story of One Song
Music has no boundaries. This once again proves the creative cooperation of a simple Kazakhstani guy, a student of Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, Shyngys Belgibayev with a famous Norwegian singer.
Recently, the Norwegian edition of Bergensreavisen published an interview with the famous performer Halie, where she talks with special warmth about the work and acquaintance with the Kazakh student ShynAi. The result of their joint work was a song about an unusually beautiful love story. It is written in two languages - English and Russian.
“He showed me the initial version of a new song and I was just fascinated by the melody. I wrote the rest of the lyrics and we recorded it in a couple of hours. I asked my friend, the drummer in my band, Martin Wright, to produce this song. And he readily agreed. In my opinion, it turned out great” - says the talented Norwegian singer Halie.
To be in the right place at the right time... Perhaps this is about Shyngys. The meeting with the star of Norwegian music, one might say, became important. After all, the emergence of the song itself, no matter what kind of song it is, has an unusual European history.
“The first meeting was very interesting and a little strange. I was working, he came to buy coffee, and I asked him where he was from since he spoke English. ShynAi is his artistic name. He was a student at Grieg Academy at the University of Bergen”, - recalls Halie.
It was no coincidence that Shyngys Belgibaev was at the University of Bergen. He received the opportunity to study there for his academic and professional achievements ... The fact is that Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory has been participating in the international project: Eurasian Scientific and Research Community of Music and Instrumental Performance, for several years. The project’s long-term goal is to promote the renewal and internationalization of higher education in the partner countries in the field of music and art. The main objective of the project is to attract three major music schools from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan to gain instrumental performance experience.
Within the framework of this project, a contest was announced among 2nd and 3rd students in the specialty: Instrumental Performance (the final stage of selection was carried fulfilled remotely by Norwegian colleagues). Based on the contest results the winners were sent to the University of Bergen (Norway) for a semester study in academic mobility from February to June 2020.
Among the winners was Shyngys Belgibaev, a student of the Kazakh National Conservatory of the Instrumental Performance Faculty, specializing in String Instruments. Today he is a 3rd year student and is the pride of his native university.
“When there is a completely musical environment around you, it is a completely different atmosphere. One can say “immersion in music”. Of course, this could not but influence on my creative life”, - says Shyngys. “It was in Europe where my solo career has started. By the way, I had an online concert on Instagram for the first time. At that moment I was in a hotel room in Paris where we went with fellow students for the weekend. Then, at the "dawn of the quarantine fever", it was not yet popular, everyone was waiting for a return to the "concert channel" as before”.
By the way, on September 10, the young musician released the "Three-Letter Word" premiere song as a harbinger of his debut, which found a warm response from the audience. Later, the debut of his first "Your Awkward Sorry" track was released on November 20 and the track "Two Sides" appeared later on December 21.
“This is the first time my debut has been announced in the well-known Norwegian media, it’s a pleasant surprise,” - ShynAi says with a pride. “The whole history of our joint track is described in Halie’s interview for the Bergen edition – some kind of European story of a good song.
It is worth noting that on the day of its debut, the track created by ShynAi and Halie will be released on the popular “Robato” music podcast in Norway.