Sanubar Tursun

The older sister of Hesenjan and Husenjan, Sanubar is now the leading performer in the Tursun family and has established a reputation as the preeminent Uyghur female singer-songwriter. A singer and dutar player since childhood, she trained and worked professionally as a chang (hammer dulcimer) player. She achieved success as a singer and dutar player with a series of albums of traditional and composed songs, working initially with her eldest brother, the virtuoso satar and tambur player Nurmemet Tursun, and, more recently, with Hesenjan. Her songs are widely listened to and imitated by audiences and musicians across Xinjiang’s towns and rural areas, and she is respected for her integrity as an artist. Sanubar has recently left her homeland in order to study composition at Shanghai Conservatory.