Music – it would seem that a word of only a few letters, but it contains a wonderful, captivating magical power that every listener feels. It is the duty of teachers to instill in the younger generation the subtleties of mastery of playing musical instruments, including national ones, reflecting the cultural identity of peoples.

The heroine of our story is Altyn Rustamova, an experienced teacher at the Turkmen state specialised music school named after Danatar Ovezov at the Turkmen national conservatory named after Maya Kulyyeva. For many years she has been teaching young students the secrets of playing the dutar with a plectrum.

I once had the opportunity to talk with Altyn Rustamova about her path into the world of art. Our meeting began with music: taking up an instrument, she performed works by the outstanding composer Chary Babayev. Looking at her, it is impossible not to notice her sincere love for her work. As if anticipating my question, she told me about the beginning of her creative path:

«My passion for music began in early childhood. My father, Jumanazar Rustamov, guided me along this path. When I was a child, he bought me toy musical instruments, which became my favourite toys. Over time, I fell in love with music and decided to firmly connect my life with this direction».

This dream led Altyn to the Art school of the children of the Charjev etrap of the Lebap velayat, where she began to master the dutar and plectrum class under the guidance of Seylihan Yuldashev. The talent of young performer was revealed every day. Upon entering the Lebap specialised school of arts, the masters highly appreciated her performing skills. Here she continued her studies with Kamiljan Nazarov. During her studies, Altyn became a diploma recipient and prize winner of various professional competitions held both in our country and abroad. This inspired the young talent, who had a passion for music, to delve deeper into the magical world of art, and she continued her studies at the Turkmen national conservatory named after Maya Kuliyeva. Here she met such famous composers of our country as Ashyr Kulyyev, Chary Babayev and Muhammetmyrat Gapurov. She learned the intricacies of playing the dutar with a plectrum from Chary Babayev.

Today, the students of Altyn Rustamova are winning state competitions and successfully pursuing teaching and performing careers, contributing to the cultural development of the country.

Over the years, Altyn Rustamova has written a two-volume textbook, «A Collection of major musical works for dutar with plectrum», for the «dutar with plectrum» specialty in specialised music and art schools in our country, a textbook, «Ensembles», for folk instrument ensembles, and several curricula. In addition, she has made arrangements of works by Turkmen and foreign composers for performance on the dutar with a plectrum.