Mira Tulenova

Mira Tulenova is a Kazakh-German flutist who is deeply passionate about contemporary music. As a member of the new generation of international musicians dedicated to pushing the boundaries of their art, she constantly explores new ways to experiment with sound and technical possibilities. Mira is known for her innovative and daring approach to music, and she has quickly gained recognition in the world of contemporary classical and experimental music.

Mira was born into a family of musicians and artists in Almaty. She began her professional musical studies at a young age at the Republican Music School for Talented Children, selecting the flute as her main instrument with a recommendation from Helga Kuster and the American National Flute Association. Mira won her first prize at the age of ten in an international music festival „The Voice of Asia.“ In the same year, she won the Soros Foundation scholarship for the Central Music School of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. During her studies, she was awarded numerous prizes at important competitions and festivals in Kazakhstan, Russia, Hungary, Latvia, and Romania, and quickly established herself as a sought-after performer, playing with orchestras and ensembles such as the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Camerata Kazakhstan. After school, she was invited to work permanently with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Kazakhstan and won a presidential scholarship to study at the National Conservatory, as well as a DAAD prize to study at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, receiving a master’s degree in music and art. During her career, she trained with flutists such as Pierre-Yves Artaud, Aurèle Nicolet, Sophie Cherrier, Andrea Lieberknecht, Yuri Dolzhikov, James Galway, Renate Greiss-Armin, Emmanuel Pahud, Bettina Wilde, Yerkhat Nurgaliyev, Balzhan Orazbayeva, Mario Caroli, Benoit Fromanger, Christoph Huntgeburth, and Dietmar Wiesner. She has collaborated with renowned conductors, including Valery Gergiev, Fedor Lednev, Renat Salavatov, Teodor Currentzis, Alan Buribaev, Jan-Moritz Onken, Arnaud Arbet and many other musicians.

Her passion for contemporary music led her to become a founding member of the ensemble of contemporary and experimental music EEGERU. She has worked with the Meyerhold Center for Performing Arts, the ORTA Center, and many other collectives and musicians. She has premiered works by Tristan Murail, Klaus Lang, Aigerim Seilova, Hans Zender, Anton Safronov, Dmitri Kourliandski, Sanzhar Baiterekov, Tokzhan Karatai, Oleg Paiberdin, David Lang, and Rakhat-Bi Abdyssagin.

She has taken part in festivals such as Musikfest Berlin, Zermatt, Aix-en-Provence, Nauryz XXI contemporary music festival, Kasachische Perlen, Откровение, Young Euro Classic, and others.

Mira’s performances have taken her to many prestigious concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Elbphilharmonie, Beethovenhalle, Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein, and many other stages in France, Russia, Hungary, Holland, Slovenia, and other countries.

Mira speaks English, German, Russian, Kazakh, French, and Turkish, and resides in Berlin, Germany, where she works and studies between concerts. She is a member of the Initiative Neue Musik Berlin. Parallel to her musical career, Mira has contributed to the cultural policy of Kazakhstan and the preservation of the cultural heritage of Central Asia. Since 2012, she has worked as a researcher, culture expert, and project manager for the Research Institute of Culture, UNESCO Central Asia, Association of Museums, and the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan.