From Almaty to Paris and London, the geography of Zhanar Suleimanova's performances is impressive. This pianist has successfully represented Kazakhstani art at prestigious international venues. Her talent and skill are recognised not only in Kazakhstan, but also far beyond its borders. In this article we will tell you how Zhanar Suleіmanova reached such heights and what is behind her brilliant performances.
Zhanar, your parents were scientists. How did their scientific approach influence your musical perception and career?
Scientists are characterised by systematic thinking, discipline and methodicalness. I think that artists also need an inquisitive mind and a desire to ‘get to the essence of everything’ (words of B. Pasternak). It is very important not just to play notes, intuitively expressing emotions, but also to understand the context in which the work was created and its musical structure.
I appreciate spontaneous musicality and flamboyant artistry. However, when I lack knowledge or a base, I turn to books and broadcasts about the era, the historical context, and the insights of musicologists and composers. I want to know what idea drove the creator of a piece, how his biography, the style of the era, or historical events influenced his work. Many musicians follow this path, but not all. Unlike my parents, who may have worked with dangerous reagents and radiation, I’m not so careful. Of course, the impact of music on the emotional sphere is great, and I am different from them. In a musical career they could not help me with connections, whereas in science they had excellent international contacts.
You have performed at prestigious venues all over the world. Is there a venue that has left the strongest emotional mark and why?
The places where I have played leave different and always strong impressions. I often get excited or, on the contrary, indignant about something. I try to be emotionally invested in every performance, regardless of whether the audience is specialists or people who are far from music, or whether I am playing in a famous hall or a small one. In Europe, the audience usually respects classical music, which makes performing there more difficult, but also more prestigious. It is important for me to represent Kazakhstan in Europe: in Milan, Munich, Paris and other cities. In 2024 I was delighted to meet London thanks to the Golden Time Talent Festival. I want Kazakhstan to be known not only for its natural beauty and sporting achievements, but also for its cultural achievements. The abundance of Kazakhstanis who have won prizes at the festival is a joy.
It is especially gratifying to play in places where classical music culture was born, and if I have had success there. In Kazakhstan, I am happy if my concert is enjoyed by young people. This is not always easy, as many young people are into pop and pop music. My activity gives me strength and hope as I try to perform masterpieces of piano music, which are examples of good taste and give energy even when playing at home.
You have received state awards and recognition in Kazakhstan and abroad. What importance do you attach to national and international evaluation of your work?
Balance is very important to me. It is important for me to realise that I am more than the evaluation of others, be it positive or negative. This inner core of mine is more important than both awards and negative evaluations. However, I am very grateful for all the awards, both small and significant, that I have received in my life. I am very appreciative of professional competition awards, as there are many good musicians, especially pianists, today, and it is difficult to stand out and get an award out of the hands of other musicians. I am also grateful for state awards. I consider myself quite fortunate. On the other hand, everything I have received from awards is the result of constant and hard work.
Zhanar, as a multiple laureate of international competitions, what qualities do you think a pianist needs to stand out on the world stage?
I’ll start with the bitter truth. There are several thousand music competitions of various sizes in the world today. Some of them become a place where jury members bring their students as contestants, and accordingly, places are allocated in priority to the students of the jury members. So sometimes even a complete set of qualities needed to win does not guarantee first prizes. It is not always the best who win.
If we talk about the ideal portrait of a winner, it should be a person with a large and harmoniously combined set of qualities. Firstly, without talent, no other qualities will help. You need talent and charisma, the charm of the artist, which are most often given by nature. However, a person can change both for the worse and for the better. Nowadays it is fashionable to talk about manifestation, but I don’t fully understand what it means. I only know that natural qualities can be manifested or not, and it is probably a question of psychology. One can always feel the presence of complexes or, on the contrary, inner freedom and confidence, excessive nervousness or stability, ability to concentrate or cognitive decline due to stress.
Another important factor is personality. A bright personality can already be seen in some children, but not always the early bright career continues. In an adult, a harmonious upbringing and a broad outlook are immediately noticeable. The audience sees and hears an inner emptiness or, on the contrary, an interesting personality. In my work I consciously create space for searching: I study meanings, write texts, communicate with people of art, observe the world, soaking up its atmosphere. I am building up an ‘eye for detail’, training my aesthetic eye, noticing the details that make the ordinary unique.
For me, creativity is not just an act of creation, but a way of understanding the world and myself in it. Each stroke on the canvas is the result of a dialogue with life, its mysteries and discoveries.
Your career spans almost 25 years with the Kazakh State Philharmonic. How do you see the role of the Philharmonic in the modern cultural space of Kazakhstan?
The Kazakh State Academic Philharmonic named after Zhambyl will be 90 years old in 2025. It is a concert organisation with its own history and traditions. It has one of the best orchestras in the country – the State Academic Symphony Orchestra named after T. Abdrashev, the State Choral Chapel named after B. Baikadamov, the legendary folk instrument orchestra ‘Otrar Sazy’, the State String Quartet named after G. Zhubanova and the State Woodwind Quintet under the direction of Zhanat Ermanov, which also received the first Golden Time Talent award. We have more than 15 soloists. This is a colossal organisation with thousands of people working in it. Artists of the Philharmonic have toured and continue to tour both around the world and within the republic. Many artists come to us on tour. The role of the Philharmonic Society in the cultural space of Kazakhstan is very important. Of course, first and foremost, our work is seen by the people of Almaty.
You have a wide experience of performing in different countries. Are there any particularities in preparing for performances on different continents or in different cultural contexts?
Concerts vary in organisation, duration, repertoire preferences, dress code and other aspects. A standard recital usually consists of two sections and lasts an hour and a half with an intermission. However, after the pandemic, concerts in Europe and Kazakhstan are sometimes held in one section, which makes them shorter but more intense. During the pandemic we were forbidden to do intermissions and long concerts. Such concerts last 60-70 minutes, but after 50 minutes of playing without a break it gets hard. Now I have returned to standard concerts with intermission, despite the complaints. In Kazakhstan there are fewer trained listeners for large forms of European classical music than in Europe.
In Europe, recitals often have no presenters and the audience reads the programmes. In Kazakhstan it is traditional for musicologists to give the opening remarks. When I started working at the Kazakh State Philharmonic, we had several musicologists who were involved in educational activities. I had the opportunity to work with musicologist Anatoly Kelberg, who was a polymath and had a huge library. After he left in 2009, I started to conduct my concerts myself, especially in Almaty, preparing texts in Kazakh and Russian. In other countries or cities in Kazakhstan I play silently or with presenters.
In Europe, the level is very high. Sometimes musicians organise a concert for me, because they can tell me what kind of programme is interesting in the city where I perform. In big cities I can attract not so much a name as an unusual repertoire that is rarely performed. By the way, French musicians are very critical of the performance of French music. If you have no idea of the traditions of performing French music, it is better not to play French music in France. There will be serious criticism. They are perfectionists also in terms of assessing the accuracy of text and technique. It’s one of the strongest schools in the world.
When I played at a competition in the USA in 1992, there was a dress code: long floor-length dresses. There were professors from New York and foreigners on the jury. Everything was lavishly organised. Unfortunately, today the contest has ceased to exist. But back then it felt like a grand event, even though it was a province. There was even a greeting from the American president in the booklet.
If you compare the mores, and also the dress code, in Paris they don’t like to be ‘overdressed’ not only in life, but also on stage. They appreciate elegance and simplicity. Incidentally, it was under the impression of European pianists that I came up with the idea of wearing beautiful trouser suits on stage.
In general, about preparing for concerts in different countries: you have to be guided by the music and be well prepared for the performance. There is a standard etiquette of behaviour on stage for artists of academic music. It often coincides in different countries.
Since I have taken lessons from professors from different countries, I will say that there can be very big differences in technique and performance style. I don’t argue with anyone, I silently absorb what I personally like and need. Sometimes I don’t agree, I argue internally, but I don’t show it. Why unnecessary arguments? You can’t change a great master. He or she plays admirably with his or her techniques. There are things that must be accepted unconditionally and learnt, there are optional points. There are also some points on which all great musicians from different countries agree and say the same thing. Traditions are traditions. I belong to academic musicians, so it is the old traditions that come from Europe that are valuable to me. Academic contemporary music, avant-garde, is very difficult for me. But I can overcome it, but I have to work twice as hard. Everything is unfamiliar.
Your repertoire is very varied. How do you choose the pieces for your concerts? Which recent performances would you highlight?
I have been lucky to work at the Kazkhstan State Philharmonic since January 2000, a period when censorship and repertoire restrictions were abolished and the Arts Council ceased to be a repressive instrument. I have two approaches to selecting repertoire: 1) I choose works that touch my heart and soul to share my joy with the public; 2) I pursue strategic educational lines, educating myself and the public through an understanding of style and era. In 2024, I conducted a lecture-concert series on Baroque, Classicism, Romanticism, and the 20th and 21st centuries at the Philharmonic Chamber Hall.
Recently, in January 2025, a concert was held to mark the 25th anniversary of my service with the Kazakh State Academic Philharmonic. I performed works that I love, including works by R Schumann and a challenging sonata by Paul Hindemith written in 1938. Also on the programme were light works by Liszt and Poulenc, and arrangements of Kazakh cues dedicated to Akhmet Baitursynuly written by Alexander Zataevich.
In the second half of January I took part in the tour of the Woodwind Quintet under the direction of Zhanat Yermanov in Karaganda, where I performed a solo work. In Kazakhstan, my concert schedule is planned for the year ahead, including joint projects and recitals.
Which composers and works have a special place in your repertoire and why? Are there any Kazakh composers or performers who have influenced you?
From childhood, many musicians, including myself, are influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach. At first his music serves as a teaching aid, and then a real love for his works emerges. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Debussy have a special place in my life. I perform recitals dedicated to works by only one of these composers, including large cycles and sonatas. I try to familiarise myself and my listeners with a variety of classical works.
In Kazakhstan my activity differs from concerts in other countries: I lead an educational line. There are composers to whom I cannot devote a whole recital, but I love and often perform their works. For example, I would not risk playing only Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas all evening, although I love his pieces very much.
Among Kazakh composers, I was influenced by Bakhtiyar Amanzhol and Gaziza Zhubanova, from whom I learnt composition as a child. As a performer, I was influenced by Zhania Aubakirova and Guljamilya Kydyrbekova, the first laureates of major pianist competitions. I collaborated a lot with conductor Tolepbergen Abdrashev, a finalist of the Herbert von Karajan Competition. Abdrashev was my teacher in playing with the orchestra. I have worked with many wonderful instrumentalists and singers, including Golden Time Talent winners Yerken Murzagaliev and Zhanat Ermanov. All creative meetings leave a trace in memory and consciousness, though not all of them touch the heart and soul.
As for the choice of repertoire, I am proud of 25 years of artistic freedom, but now I am worried about the revival of the artistic council. It could do both good and harm. I hope it doesn’t become Soviet-era censorship influencing the choice of repertoire.
What inspires you besides music? Do you manage to find a balance between your creative work and personal life?
To prepare a programme, I often read literature that may have influenced the authors, whether artistic or professional. For example, when playing Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana, I studied the works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. I can be inspired by lectures about art, meeting artists, art historians, musicologists and composers. I am inspired by different kinds of art. I always think about the atmosphere a work creates, the historical and sometimes political context in which it is written. Historical books and programmes also influence me.
There is a work-life imbalance in my life. I sacrifice a lot for work, but my family is proud of me and considers me an attentive family member.
Today, with the dominance of the clip mentality, people no longer understand what a recital is like when a soloist plays 80-90 minutes by heart. When Franz Liszt first gave a recital, it seemed supernatural. Now recitals have become commonplace. Not everyone can understand why so much work, so much sacrifice, so much concentration. I have to protect my activities and limit socialising and living before concerts. Music takes centre stage in my life.
What are your plans for the future? Would you like to try yourself in other genres or projects?
I have plans to collaborate with European musicians in the field of contemporary academic music. There has also been an offer of co-operation with a dance company in Kazakhstan. However, as far as dancers are concerned, I have not made a decision yet, as I have no experience in this field and I am approaching it cautiously. I have a lot of proposals and I will consider them carefully.
Just the other day, on the 2nd of February, I am performing again in a concert of soloists at the Philharmonic in Almaty. I prefer not to talk about long-range plans, although there are prestigious offers. I lean more towards academism, and if it is contemporary music or avant-garde, I prefer to work with academic composers. For example, in 2019 I performed a piece specially written for me where electronic music was combined with piano music.
What kind of music do you prefer in your everyday life? Are there any contemporary artists you listen to?
I have been doing zumba in a group for two years now. It is a sports training session to rhythmic modern dance songs, and we perform simple but interesting dance compositions. My coach is a professional choreographer. As a performer with a wide repertoire, I listen to a lot of classical music. For example, when playing Beethoven sonatas, I can listen to his quartets and symphonies. This is also part of my inspiration.
I listen to music in the car, more often classical, sometimes jazz. I like jazz classics and big bands. I often have jazz band music from the 1930s-1940s and vocal jazz from the 1940s-1960s in the car. This put me in a comfortable and optimistic driving mood. Since childhood, I have listened to classic rock music played from my brother’s room. I love Italian songwriting, such as Claudio Chieffo songs, and French pop music. In 2018, I was on the jury of a Francophone song contest in Almaty organised by the French Alliance in Kazakhstan. However, I don’t know pop as deeply as classical. My brother is better versed in rock music, especially the rock classics of the 1970s and 1980s.
At the Golden Time Talent festival there was a high level of pop and rock performers, which I liked.
Sometimes I listen to Kazakh folklore, but after exhausting rehearsals I need silence. So three years ago I moved to the countryside. Although travelling to the city, especially early in the morning, is not easy, I have found something real.
What are the biggest difficulties you have faced on your creative path? How did you overcome them?
Throughout my musical journey, I have faced many challenges that could fill an entire book. In the world of music, judgement is always subjective, and I have seen problems such as corruption and the promotion of protégés. The main obstacles, however, are internal challenges. The struggle with oneself, as Pasternak has it: ‘With whom did his struggles flow? With himself, with himself’. Today, stability of performance is valued in music, but the public loves sensitivity and emotion. Neurotics, if they can cope with their problems, can become popular artists. I was shy and nervous as a child, but that went away over the years. After the age of 18, I became afraid to go on stage because the expectations increased.
In 2000, when I became a soloist with the Philharmonic, I was faced with an intensive concert schedule and the need to fulfil a financial individual plan for 20 years, i.e. to earn a certain amount of money from concerts for the Philharmonic plan. It wasn’t until 2020 that this individual financial plan was removed. It was a challenge of fate. In order to earn some income, I had to think like an art manager: what programme to attract the audience, what text to prepare for the opening speech, to think about outfits and hairstyles according to the repertoire and the era. Sometimes there were sponsors for a particular concert, if there was a special idea. A recital could sometimes be turned into a small performance.
I think that the difficulties I endured are something that few people can endure if they expect everything to be presented to them on a platter. I was not interested in money, but in promoting the best examples of classical music. I survived as a professional, maintaining my artistic and technical form, despite a symbolic salary at the beginning of my career. Today the situation is better, but I still prefer to work for an idea rather than a fee.
Sometimes my enemy is workaholism, when I forget about artistic freedom and turn into a soldier mechanically performing tasks. In the summer, Madame Françoise Thinat, an outstanding French pianist, noticed in me a kind of burnout, a draining out before a concert. She told me, ‘Don’t be a labourer or a cleaner in your work at the piano. Don’t be a businesswoman in your art. The magic of art today is almost lost. Try to keep it. I believe you can.’ I gave a concert in a church in the centre of Paris, she said to me before the concert, ‘Go and serve Mass. Play sublimely and sincerely as only you can.’ There were strong and weak moments in my concert, but the high quality of the acoustics, the instrument, the audience and those words had an impact on me. The soul is soothed in such historic places. It’s like a lesson for life.
Time is both enemy and friend. I have to struggle with its influence on my physical and pianistic form even today, even though I am relatively young. With my concert on 11 January 2025, its large time scale and the complexity of the programme, I wanted to show both myself and the audience that I am as fit as I was 25 years ago. Time heals, puts many things in their place, gives new good qualities of a musician, artistic and human experience. This is all reflected in my playing. Today I started to become interested in the workings of the brain. I’m just starting to read and listen to programmes on these topics. I see this difference between a person a century ago, playing a large repertoire by heart and reading books and quoting poetry, and those people today, who are more friends with gadgets, losing some of the qualities that people used to have. The challenge for me is how to preserve my memory, my vast repertoire and clarity of mind in the face not only of natural ageing, but also of a huge abundance of information, an aggressive flow of sounds, colours and words, which do not always contain profound ideas.
What recommendations can you give to aspiring musicians to represent their talent at competitions and festivals?
I think the role of mental state for participation in the competition is huge. I know that athletes are sometimes trained by special coaches. But for us musicians, it’s just a matter of luck. Personally, I’ve never worked with any coaches, I’ve dealt with psychological problems myself, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. In the course of my life and creative journey I begin to understand my nature. It is different from the nature of another pianist. It is very important to study yourself, your individuality. You can be a person with some weaknesses, but you can deal with them skilfully. Or you can waste your own energy and spiritual power. You need discipline and a little ‘military’ character, when less words, discussions, gossip, judgement, laziness, idleness, but more work. Even the greatest reserves of energy and health can be wasted.
