Sirojiddin Juraev, dutar
Composed by Kuzikhon Madrahimov (1888-1954)
Sirojiddin’s virtuosic performance of “Qushtor” evokes the sound of flamenco
guitar, and uses several of the fingering techniques typical of flamenco style:
hammering down and pulling off on the strings with the left hand (ligado) while
tapping the soundboard of the instrument with the right hand (golpe); and
playing rhythmic rolls (rasgueado) and rapid repetitions of a single note
(tremolo). These evocations point to the long-ago connections between
Andalusia and the Arab world, which at one time included Central Asia.
Sirojiddin Juraev is a master performer on long-necked lutes from Central Asia. Born
and raised near the ancient city of Khujand, in northern Tajikistan, Sirojiddin learned to
play the two-stringed dutar as a child and later studied with the great Uzbek master
Turgun Alimatov. As a student at the Dushanbe Academy of Maqom, created by the Aga
Khan Music Initiative in 2003, Sirojiddin also studied tanbur and sato (bowed tanbur)
with ustad Abduvali Abdurashidov. Sirojiddin is active as a composer and arranger, and
has created a body of new virtuoso works for dutar, tanbur, and sato. He performs both
as a soloist and as a member of several ensembles, including Soriana Project, the
Academy of Maqom, and Tajikistan’s State Shashmaqom Ensemble.