Shamshi Kaldayakov

Shamshi Kaldayakov (Kazakh: Шәмші Қалдаяқов, Şämşi Qaldayaqov; Russian: Шамши Калдаяков, Šamši Kaldajakov, b. August 15, 1937 in Temirlanovka, South Kazakhstan Province — d. February 29, 1992 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, aged 56) was a Kazakhstani composer. He was born Shamshi Donbaiev, but ran away from school and changed his name to avoid the police. He started playing music aged 17 and mainly wrote songs in a waltz style, but in 1956, he composed the music to the patriotic song My Kazakhstan. It was adopted in 2006 to be the Kazakhstan national anthem by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev after a few modifications in the lyrics.