Kauken Kenzhetayev

(1916 - 2008)

He was born on April 25, 1916, in the village of Bayan-Aul (now in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan) into a family of a peasant-herder. He was the biological brother of the famous Kazakh director Shaken Aimanov. He comes from the Ay-Dabol subclan of the Suyindyk tribe of the Argyn clan. From 1935 to 1941, he studied at the Kazakh studio at the Moscow State Conservatory. From 1942 to 1946, he worked in the border guards' song and dance ensemble in Khabarovsk. In 1950, he graduated from the vocal department of the Almaty Conservatory. From 1946 to 1979, he was a soloist (baritone) and director at the Abai Kazakh State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. Since 1979, he worked as a teacher and head of the Department of Musical Comedy at the Almaty Theater and Arts Institute.