GALYA BISENGALIEVA
photo: Nicol Vizioli
Galya Bisengalieva is a Kazakh composer, producer and violinist whose work transcends genre. Known for her striking originality and virtuosic command of her instrument, she occupies a singular space in music. Her first two releases, EP ONE and TWO, were issued on NOMAD Music Productions, the label she founded to champion experimental sounds.
In 2020 she released her debut album “Aralkum”. Galya’s focus on wide expanses of tone suit the album’s subject: the Aral Sea and the desolate landscapes formed from its disastrous shrinking. October 2023 saw the release of “Polygon” turning her attention to one of the darkest episodes in Kazakh history - the radioactive legacy of the Semipalatinsk Test Site. Born into a family of classical and folk musicians in the Kazakh capital Almaty in the late 1980s, Galya’s own early childhood overlapped with the latter part of the forty-year period during which the former Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests, creating more fallout than Chernobyl. On the aptly titled Polygon, Galya demonstrates the power of music to convey a story even as complex as this one as she considers its environmental, geological and geopolitical aspects.
An internationally-recognised performer, Galya has appeared at venues including the Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie and the Paris Philharmonie, Brooklyn Academy of Arts, ACE Theatre LA, Béla Bartók Concert Hall, Victoria Hall, BOZAR, Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. Recently she was invited to showcase her works at the ICA London, Haus Der Kunst, National Sawdust, Kiezsalon, Berliner Festspiele, Le Guess Who, Rewire, WOS and Donau Festivals.
She has closely collaborated with some of the world’s finest musicians including Moor Mother, Pauline Oliveros, Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, Terry Riley, Jlin, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Thom Yorke and Actress. Her solo and improvisation work have featured on film soundtracks and TV productions including You Were Never Really Here, Sing Sing, The Two Popes, The Master, Suspiria and on albums by Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Justice, The National and Sigur Rós.
Galya’s work has extended into the world of fashion with collaborations for Norlha, Phoebe English, Renata Brenha, Gerbase, Burberry and Alexander McQueen. Her music has been featured in publications including The Wire, FACT, Boiler Room, Pitchfork, The Quietus, Sound on Sound and NOWNESS.
“Galya…a powerful force in new and primordial music” The Quietus
“creates teeming and imagistic environments with four strings and electronics” Pitchfork
“It makes for a challenging listen, but demands the listener return for more, and reveals Bisengalieva not only as a star violinist but as a producing force to be reckoned with.” The Guardian
“Technical versatility combined with an inquisitive temperament make Galya Bisengalieva a truly exciting violinist, as these appetising releases on her own label show.” The Wire
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POLYGON - OUT NOW
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“absolutely thrilling” The Guardian
“a musical journey from beauty to desolation to hope” Uncut
“Aralkum is as deep, dark and inexplorable as the disaster it reflects. It advances like the poisoned sand. It is also beautiful and mesmeric, steeped in profound sadness, as if low sobs of protest were slowed to the pace of desiccation.” Metro
“Bisengalieva’s meditation on aridity strikes the perfect tone. Concept albums are hard to pull off, especially debut concept albums. Aralkum leads listeners through a gamut of emotions, yet resists the urge to wrap it in a neat bow. The open-endedness reflects the nature of the artist herself.” A Closer Listen
“Aralkum feels like a deep meditation on our interaction with and responsibility for nature. Between the menacing dissonance of “Moynaq” and the swelling harmonies of “Zhalanash”, an elegy morphs into inspiration.” Bandcamp
“creates teeming and imagistic environments with four strings and electronics” Pitchfork
“It makes for a challenging listen, but demands the listener return for more, and reveals Bisengalieva not only as a star violinist but as a producing force to be reckoned with.” The Guardian
“Technical versatility combined with an inquisitive temperament make Galya Bisengalieva a truly exciting violinist, as these appetising releases on her own label show.” The Wire
POLYGON - OUT NOW
“absolutely thrilling” The Guardian
“a musical journey from beauty to desolation to hope” Uncut
“Aralkum is as deep, dark and inexplorable as the disaster it reflects. It advances like the poisoned sand. It is also beautiful and mesmeric, steeped in profound sadness, as if low sobs of protest were slowed to the pace of desiccation.” Metro
“Bisengalieva’s meditation on aridity strikes the perfect tone. Concept albums are hard to pull off, especially debut concept albums. Aralkum leads listeners through a gamut of emotions, yet resists the urge to wrap it in a neat bow. The open-endedness reflects the nature of the artist herself.” A Closer Listen
“Aralkum feels like a deep meditation on our interaction with and responsibility for nature. Between the menacing dissonance of “Moynaq” and the swelling harmonies of “Zhalanash”, an elegy morphs into inspiration.” Bandcamp