Dinmuhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen (, Dınmūhammed Qanatūly Qūdaibergen, born 24 May 1994) known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is university-trained in classical as well as contemporary music, and is known for his exceptionally wide vocal range. He has performed songs in thirteen languages.
Although offered a position at the Astana Opera, he decided to carve out his career in contemporary music, mixing classical elements and traditional Kazakh music with pop music.
He gained significant popularity in Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries in 2015 upon becoming the Grand Prix winner of Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus. He rose to fame in China with his participation as a "wildcard competitor" in Hunan TV's Singer 2017 (), finishing second overall.
Early life
Dinmuhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen was born on 24 May 1994 in Aktobe, to Qanat Qūdaibergenūly Aitbaev () and Svetlana Aitbaeva (). His father previously led the regional Cultural Development Board of Aktobe. His mother is a soprano singer at the Aktobe Philharmonic Society, a Member of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Development (Deputy of Maslihat of Aktobe region) and artistic director of the children's studio Saz in the Aktobe Region.
Qudaibergen has a younger sister named Raushan and a younger brother named Abilmansur, who is also a musician, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and drummer.
Qudaibergen was brought up in a close-knit musical family, and his grandparents played a major role in his upbringing, which followed largely traditional Kazakh customs.
Qudaibergen began performing at a young age, singing and playing the piano. His first appearance on stage was at the age of two in a minor role in a local theatre production. At home Qudaibergen took an interest in musical instruments, and his parents and his music teacher noticed that he had absolute pitch. At the age of five, he began to take piano and vocal lessons at the children's studio of the local music college. Qudaibergen first sang on stage the same year, at the age of five. At the age of six, in 2000, he won the national piano contest Aynalayin.
Education
At the age of five, Qudaibergen began to take piano and vocal lessons at the children's studio of Aktobe's Akhmet Zhubanov Music College. He later attended Gymnasium No. 32 in Aktobe. Qudaibergen completed a Broadway Musical master class in 2009. In 2014, he graduated in Classical Music with Major in Vocal (Bel Canto) from the music institute of K. Zhubanov University in Aktobe and began his studies in Contemporary Music (Jazz, Pop) at Kazakh National University of Arts in Astana, where he graduated with Major in Vocal on 27 June 2018. On 18 June 2020, he graduated from the same university with a master's degree in Composition by defending his Master's thesis with a perfect score, and receiving a recommendation for admission to doctoral studies in music.
Qudaibergen plays seven instruments: piano, keyboards, dombra, drums, guitar, marimba and bayan.
He speaks Kazakh and Russian, and is studying English and Mandarin. He has performed songs in 13 languages, Kazakh, Russian, English, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Serbian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Kyrgyz, and Japanese.
In December 2022, Dimash Qudaibergen became the owner of the Bolashak International Scholarship.
Career
2010–2014: Early career
From 2010 to 2013 Qudaibergen participated in and won four major singing competitions, in Kazakhstan (Sonorous Voices of Baikonur, 2010, and Zhas Kanat, 2012), Ukraine (Oriental Bazaar, 2012), and Kyrgyzstan (Meikin Asia, 2013).
With winning the prestigious National Zhas Kanat Contest in 2012, Qudaibergen gained for the first time wide attention from the Kazakh national media. He won the three-day vocal competition with a full jury score of 180 out of 180 points; the first time in the history of the contest. That same year he released his first self-composed work "Körkemım" (). In 2013 he was invited to perform as a guest singer at the Türkçevizyon Gala Night in Denizli, Turkey.
In December 2014, Qudaibergen was awarded a laureate of the State Youth Prize Daryn.
2015–2016: Slavianski Bazaar, international performances and Unforgettable Day Tour