The ADC Memorial continues to address the issues facing indigenous peoples in its anti-discrimination podcast.
The tenth episode of “Connected” features Lev Tannagashev, a young musician from the Shor people, a small-numbered Indigenous people of Southern Siberia. We spoke with him while he was attending Ethno USA 2026, an international folk and traditional music festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. This year, the festival brought together 30 participants from India, Brazil, Hungary, Portugal, New Zealand, the United States, and other countries.
Ethno is a global program for musicians aged 18 to 30. Each participant brings a piece of music from their own culture and teaches it to the others during a 90-minute workshop. The musicians then perform together as an orchestra. Lev played the kai-komus, a traditional two-stringed instrument of the Shor people. It is used to accompany kaichi, traditional storytellers who perform epic tales. Such performances can sometimes last for several hours or even days.
Lev described how he learned to play the kai-komus as a child at a music school in his hometown of Myski. Only four or five students attended the classes, almost all of them Shor children. According to Lev, he rarely encountered anyone playing the instrument outside the school. At the festival, he played his instrument in an orchestra for the first time. The experience inspired many new ideas:
“Music should be played, not preserved like an exhibit in a museum.”
In the episode, Lev also talks about his experience of emigration. He moved to Sweden at the age of 12, speaks Swedish fluently, and is studying jazz. He is now exploring ways to incorporate the kai-komus into jazz music and plans to return to the festival. His story is particularly relevant to young Indigenous people who also find themselves living far from their ancestral homelands.
Sound design: Ostap Kukhar
You can listen in Russian:
Text version of the podcast
We are publishing the transcript of the ‘Сonnected’ podcast. The text has been slightly edited for readability.
— Joining us today is Lev Tannagashev, a representative of the Shor people — an Indigenous small-numbered people of Siberia — and a musician. Hello, Lev!
— Hello! Good morning!
— You’re currently at an ethnic music festival in the United States called Ethno USA 2026. Could you tell us what kind of festival it is, who takes part, what the programme is like, and the music of which peoples can be heard there?
— It’s an ethnic music festival that brings together 30 musicians from around the world. It takes place in Greensboro, North Carolina. Each participant brings a piece that represents their culture, and each participant is given about an hour and a half to run their workshop and teach their piece to the other participants.
— And does it have to be a piece you’ve written yourself, or one that you perform?
— It doesn’t necessarily have to be written by me. It can be a piece that has been played before and that I’ve learned. The main thing is that there shouldn’t be any copyright issues. There are participants from India, Brazil, Hungary and, of course, the United States. There are also two participants from New Zealand. I’m the only person representing Asia as a whole.
— You play the kai-komus? Could you tell us what kind of musical instrument it is and how it is connected to Shor cultural heritage?
— The kai-komus is our traditional Shor instrument. It has just two strings. A person who plays the kai-komus is called a kaichi. That is, someone who tells stories while playing the instrument at the same time. The person enters a trance and, essentially, sees something like dreams in front of them while playing the instrument, and then tells the others what they see. The thing is, this can go on for a very long time — several hours, or even several days.
— And how did you come to play this instrument? Had you heard someone playing it?
— There was a music school in the town where I was born, and my parents simply enrolled me in kai-komus lessons. I was about five or six years old. My teacher was Olga Alexandrovna. I studied at the music school for about six years.
— Was she also a local resident?
— Yes, she was also from Myski, as far as I remember. She was Shor.
— How do you think ethnic music can be incorporated into contemporary life?
— That’s actually a difficult question. You know, music has to be played; it shouldn’t be preserved like an exhibit in a museum. You can take certain distinctive elements of ethnic music and use them in contemporary music, with modern instruments — synthesisers, for example. Take certain elements that specifically characterise ethnic music. That’s how I would put it.
— So for you, it’s a kind of new application for it — perhaps “application” isn’t quite the right word — but a kind of new life.
— Yes.
— It’s difficult to imagine it only in the form you described to me: ceremonies lasting many hours, during which the performer talks about their own visions.
— Yes, it doesn’t necessarily have to be preserved in exactly that form. In my case, I think the kai-komus can be used in many different ways. Like what I’m doing now: this is the first time I’ve played in an orchestra. I’ve never done anything like this before. Before this, I had always played the instrument solo, on my own. But now there are about 30 of us in the group. I feel like I’ve come up with a lot of ideas about other ways this instrument can be used.
— So it was at this festival that you tried playing in an orchestra for the first time?
— Yes, specifically on the kai-komus.
— What other instruments are being played? Are there any similar instruments?
— Yes. For example, there’s an instrument from the United States that is also a string instrument and sounds very similar. It also has nylon strings, like mine, and the sound is very similar. We have a dedicated string section in the orchestra, with four of us: one from Portugal, one from Cuba, one from the United States, and me from Siberia.
During the first few days, we only had rehearsals. We went through all the pieces from the different countries. For roughly the first four or five days, we went to workshops from morning until evening and learned songs. We have mentors — people who help you with your piece, help you run your workshop and teach the others if there are any gaps in your knowledge of how to teach other people. The first few days are entirely devoted to learning. After eight days, we have our first concert.
The programme actually consists of four concerts in different places. For example, we had a concert at a university, where we performed our programme. We also had a workshop where we talked about the festival.
As a musician, it’s important for me to take part in programmes like this to find inspiration and also to make new connections. I brought a song that I used to play at music school in Siberia. As far as I remember, I think my teacher wrote the piece, but I’m not sure.
— I suppose you hadn’t yet had much opportunity to take part in professional musical life in Russia? Or had you already been involved to some extent?
— I played at local concerts and took part in various competitions, but I had never participated in anything in Siberia in the kind of format we have here.
— And tell me, what is the situation with your instrument in Russia? Is there a musical community around it? Are there many performers, or is it quite rare?
— As far as I know, there are courses in my town, and you can take kai-komus lessons at the music school. As far as I remember, when I was studying there, there weren’t that many students on the programme.
— Have you ever heard the actual ceremony, the actual performance, live outside the music school? Other performers?
— I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve watched videos and performances by other musicians from Altai and Khakassia, but I don’t remember seeing any live.
— Are you originally from the town of Myski?
— Yes, I was born there and lived there for 12 years.
— You now live in Sweden. I’d like to ask you a few questions, perhaps not about the festival, but about your own life and emigration. You left when you were still a child, and you’re a young man. How do you feel about living in emigration?
— To be honest, I feel good. I mean, I’m currently studying on a jazz programme at a folk high school, about 900 kilometres from my home, where my parents live. I feel that I’m doing what I want to do.
— So, generally speaking, would you say this is successful integration?
— Yes, you could say that. To be honest, I’ve never really thought about what successful integration means.
— You speak the language, for example?
— Yes, I speak the language.
— Fluently?
— Yes.
— That’s already a huge achievement. And how do you see yourself living away from your historical homeland? Because I know that for representatives of Indigenous peoples this is often a serious issue. You left when you were very young and grew up far from your historical homeland.
— Actually, I like living in Sweden. The only thing is that I miss my relatives. But as for life in Siberia, to be honest, I don’t miss it. I like Sweden, I have friends here, and I’ve already become part of Swedish society. Sweden has simply become my home.
— This is also important for other young people from Indigenous communities who may also face emigration: it’s important to see what the outcome can be.
Let’s go back to the festival. You mentioned that you’re making connections and that this creates a certain professional environment. Could you tell us whether you have any plans for the future, perhaps, or whether the festival has given you any new ideas?
— Yes. The first thing I’ve realised at this festival is that there are far more possibilities for using my instrument than I had imagined. I’m studying on a jazz programme now, and I keep thinking about how to incorporate this instrument into jazz. Personally, I’ve never come across anything like that or seen anything online where someone was playing jazz on the kai-komus. I tried it here: in addition to my song, they also gave me the opportunity to play a solo. I’d never done anything like that before, so I realised that this instrument has much more potential.
I was also offered the chance to play bass, since that is still my main instrument at the moment. But the participants — or rather, the mentors — liked my instrument and the way it sounds, so I’m playing the kai-komus throughout the entire programme.
— You have string instruments there, as you told me. Are there wind instruments?
— Yes, there’s a wind section, which includes trumpet and flutes. There’s also a percussion section. There are bowed string instruments, there are violins, and we have a cello. Then there’s a choir section. They’re divided into bass, tenor and soprano. Everyone sings and plays their own solo in practically every piece.
— When you say “cello”, for example, do you mean a traditional cello or some particular type of cello?
— No, it’s a regular cello.
— And how is it connected to Indigenous music?
— As far as I understand, the instruments don’t necessarily have to be specifically ethnic instruments. You can come from any country and present your piece on whatever instrument you play. Preferably your piece should be connected to your culture.
— And is any recording being made? Will people be able to listen to it somewhere?
— Yes, they’ve uploaded the full concert to YouTube. The first one, when we performed at the university. There’s a full recording of the entire concert.
— If you took part this year, can you take part again next year?
— Yes. Participants range in age from 18 to 30, and you can take part in other ones as well. Since it’s a global programme, it exists in practically every country. It all depends on whether you can afford it financially.
— So you pay for your own travel?
— Yes, specifically the tickets.
— And accommodation and meals here are provided by the festival?
— Yes.
— And how long does the festival last?
— The festival lasts between 10 and 12 days on average. Well, this particular programme in the USA does. So here it’s 10–12 days, which include, first and foremost, learning, as well as the concerts themselves.
— When you were studying at music school, how many other students were there besides you?
— The number of students varied all the time, but on average there were about five, or four. Something like that. At least when I was studying there, particularly in the last few years, there were roughly that many.
— Is that significantly fewer than for classical instruments?
— Yes. I don’t remember the kai-komus being particularly popular. Most likely, it was mainly Shor children who came to learn the instrument.
— Was it possible to continue studying this instrument, for example, by going to a conservatoire?
— I think there’s a music conservatoire in Khakassia where you can continue studying this instrument.
— Tell me, have you been interested in how music education works in other countries? Have you talked about it with your colleagues who came to the festival?
— We haven’t talked about ethnic instruments. But we have talked about music education in general. We mainly talked about the cost. I’m very glad that I live in Sweden and that education is free there. We have some very good music universities and conservatoires. I’m very glad that Sweden gives people the opportunity to study for free.
I plan to continue studying music and pursue an education in music and come back to the festival.
This was a podcast from the Memorial Anti-Discrimination Centre Brussels. If this topic is of interest to you, don’t forget to subscribe and give us a like. All the best, and until next time.
We’ll stay connected.
The ‘Сonnected’ podcast series highlights the project ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Rights for a Democratic Future’, which is being implemented by INFOE (Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie e.V.), ICIPR (International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia), the Never Again Association and the ADC Memorial, with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
