The winners of the Umai 2023 National
Award were honored in the city of Astana. The
competition aimed at supporting both professional creative teams and individual
artists has been held for the second consecutive year. This time, the total
prize fund amounted to 79 million tenge. Overall, more than 300 applications
were submitted for participation, which were reviewed by an expert jury
consisting of prominent public and cultural figures, scientists and creative
professionals. Thus, an independent expert commission selected 114 finalists. To
this end, 29 special awards were established in four main categories, including
theatrical, choreographic, musical-performing, as well as visual and decorative
and applied arts. This year, a brand new award entitled ‘Discovery of the Year’
has also been introduced.
“Besides the main nominations, this year we
have four special awards, including two ‘Discovery of the Year’ awards in the
Best Performer and the Best Performance categories. The event was
specifically established to identify young talents. We also focused on premiere
performances and new works which saw the light over the period of 2021-2023.
The second special award is given for children’s performance, with one of the
prizes for a large-format performance, and the other for a small-format one,” said
Saule Mauletova, member of Umai 2023 National Award’s organizing committee.
“I proposed Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Turandot’ which
is really hard to perform. It requires a high vocal range for the female
voice. Now, I’m preparing to perform Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Tosca’ in the
future on the stage of the Astana Opera Theater,” said Bibigul Zhanuzak, a soloist
at the Astana Opera Theater, ‘Discovery of the Year’ nomination winner.
