Biography - Seit-Yagya Kazakov

About musician

Seit-Yagya Kazakov was born in the Uzbek city of Chirchik on May 7, 1963.

From an early age, he showed interest in music, which influenced his choice of profession. After finishing a music school, he studied at Tashkent Music College and then at Uzbek State Conservatory (class of Professor E.A. Melik-Karamyan).

During his studies, he also learned the musical, song and choreographic heritage of Crimean Tatars in the amateur song and dance ensemble "Khaitarma" at the House of Culture of Chirchik Shoe Factory. In this creative group, under the guidance of the artists of the pre-war Simferopol Crimean Tatar Music and Drama Theater Hafize and Yunus Kurtametovs, Seit-Yagya mastered the fundamentals of Crimean Tatar song folklore, national choreography and ethnography.

In 1988, Seit-Yagya first went to the homeland of his ancestors in Crimea, to one of the villages of the Black Sea region. Since that time, his life has been inextricably linked with Crimea and with the revival of Crimean Tatar culture in his native land. In the following years, he created several ethnic music groups in the Black Sea region of the Crimean Peninsula ("Crimea", "Ak-Mechet", "Ak-Kodzha"). In these ensembles, he was able to gather both professional and amateur artists, with whom concert programs and tours were organized throughout Crimea.

In 1994, the Kazakov family moved to Alushta, from where this large family began its history several centuries ago. Over the years of work in cultural institutions of Alushta region, Seit-Yagya was able not only to make the song and dance ensemble "Alushta", but also to join all creative forces in the public organization "Chatyr-Dag" and the cultural and ethnographic center "Alushta", founded with the support of the UN structures.

In subsequent years, Seit-Yagya Kazakov, along with his day job in the tourist complex of Alushta, led a public organization for the revival of Crimean Tatar culture on the southern coast of Crimea, and also received a second degree in Management of Foreign Economic Activity from Tauride National University (Simferopol).

In 2011, under the guidance of Kazakov, the first children's folklore school was opened, where Crimean Tatar children had the opportunity to learn their native language, traditions, rituals, musical heritage and national choreography.

In 2014, as a specialist in the revival of Crimean Tatar culture, he was invited to occupy the position of Deputy Director at the state company "Crimean House" in Kyiv. This institution carried out projects related to the development of Crimean Tatar culture in the context of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

Since 2016, Seit-Yagya Kazakov has been the head of the department of educational and cultural programs at the charity organization "Astem Foundation"; since 2018 - the chairman of the board at Cultural Heritage Foundation (Kyiv).

In recent years, cultural projects have been implemented in the foreign diasporas of Crimean Tatars, cultural centers and ethnographic groups have been created, books on the history of Crimea have been published, exhibitions of Crimean Tatar artists have been held, and the DEVLETSARAY MUSEUM project (devletsaray.org) has been launched.

During his career, Seit-Yagya Kazakov received further education at the business school of the University of Alabama (2002), at All-Ukrainian advanced training courses for cultural workers (1999), at the courses of leaders of trade unions (2007), at the International Institute of Management (MIM) PreMBA (2019) Seit-Yagya Kazakov is the author of local history, ethnographic publications, as well as publications on the musical culture of Crimean Tatars.

At present, the author resides temporarily in Kyiv.