Miras Silk Road Collective is dedicated to preserving and promoting Uyghur musical traditions, while fostering collaboration with musicians from diverse cultures along the Silk Road. Miras’s repertoire features pieces drawn from classical music, interwoven with traditional folk songs. They have toured internationally in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Turkey.
- Rahima Mahmut (vocalist)
- Ahmet Ozan Baysal – Bağlama (saz)
- Dilzat Turdi – Vocal & Daf
- Li Cheong – Ghijek
- Kamil Abbas – Tambur & Rawap
- Mominjan Rahmanjan
Rahima Mahmut (vocalist)
Rahima Mahmut comes from a large Uyghur family with a rich musical heritage, which she has passionately preserved during her exile in the United Kingdom. A composer and performer, Rahima sets the poems of persecuted Uyghur writers to music. In an era of cultural erasure, Rahima and the Miras Silk Road Collective are dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and defending the rich musical culture of the Uyghur people.
Ahmet Ozan Baysal – Bağlama (saz)
Ahmet Ozan Baysal, a soloist and composer, is renowned for his mastery of the şelpe technique. He has performed internationally at leading festivals. As a leading musician of the Miras Silk Road Collective, Ozan brings his mastery of Anatolian music to Uyghur muqam, combining tradition and innovation.
Dilzat Turdi – Vocal & Daf
Dilzat Turdi is a Uyghur singer and musician based in London. He plays and sings classical muqam, as well as traditional folk, pop, and classical pieces, accompanying himself on the traditional dap frame drum.
Li Cheong – Ghijek
Li Cheong was born in Macau and grew up in Hong Kong. (He studied music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and later earned a PhD in Music Composition from the University of York.) He lives in London, where he works as a music teacher and plays the ghijek, a traditional Uyghur bowed lute.
Kamil Abbas – Tambur & Rawap
Kamil Abbas has been playing traditional Uyghur instruments since childhood. He worked for many years for the Uyghur Opera Arts Theatre company in the Uyghur homeland. After settling in the Netherlands, he founded the Uyghur group Meshrep with his wife Gulendem Abbas, with whom he has toured extensively throughout Europe. He has collaborated with many artists and initiated several new projects across Europe. He is a member of the European Uyghur Ensemble and collaborates regularly with the Miras Silk Road Collective.
Mominjan Rahmanjan
Mohminjan Rahmanjan is an Uyghur cultural leader, professional musician and organizer based in Oslo, Norway.
As a musician, singer and performer of traditional Uyghur instruments, he brings the rich musical heritage of Uyghur culture to the stage with passion and authenticity.
Since 2009 he has organized at least two concerts or cultural events every year, with the aim of preserving, promoting and presenting Uyghur culture to the diaspora and to an international audience. Through diverse performances and projects, he creates platforms where culture, music and community come together. He combines artistic works with organizational activities and community engagement, working to strengthen understanding, identity and cultural heritage in a global context.
