Watch a short excerpt from the 24-minute documentary film included in the CD/DVD for Music of Central Asia Vol. 1: Tengir-Too: Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan, released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2006.

The Tengir-Too is a new ensemble that plays old music. The group takes its name from the mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China, and is better known by its Chinese name, Tien Shan: "Celestial Mountains." Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov, a gifted composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, Tengir-Too (Too is pronounced like "toe") provides a living laboratory for Nyshanov's efforts to find a voice for Kyrgyz music in the contemporary cultural marketplace. Produced in collaboration with the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.