Kongar-ol Ondar, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetKongar-ol Ondar
Tuvan throat singer
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Dzun-Khemchiksky District, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russia
About Kongar-ol Ondar
- Kongar-ool Borisovich Ondar (Tuvan: ????? ??????-??? ????? ????, Ondar Konggar-ool Boris oglu, [?n'd?r k??'g?r??? b?'ris ?'glu]; 29 March 1962 – 25 July 2013) was a master Tuvan throat singer and a member of the Great Khural of Tuva.
- Ondar was born near the Khemchik River in western Tuva.
- Considered a living treasure by the Republic of Tuva, Ondar was granted a stipend and an apartment for the musical skills he possessed.
- Jovial and personable, Ondar is probably the best-known face of khöömei (Tuvan: ??????) throat singing to Westerners, appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman and in interviews for CNN and other networks. In the Central Asian tradition of self-fulfilling child naming, Kongar-ool literally translates to "loud boy." Ondar is also known outside Tuva for inviting American blues musician Paul Pena to Tuva.
- Pena, who had learned throat singing before coming to Tuva, was the subject of the documentary Genghis Blues in which Ondar was also featured. In 1992, Ondar won an international throat-singing contest, which brought invitations to perform in Europe and the United States.
- In 1993, he performed at Frank Zappa's eclectic "garden party/soiree" gathering in his last days. He also appears on the Béla Fleck and the Flecktones albums Outbound, album/DVD Live at the Quick, and Jingle All the Way.
- He released one album on Warner Bros.
- Records titled Back Tuva Future. His first studio album was made in 1996 and was called Echoes of Tuva, by the TuvaMuch Music label. He died after emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage in Kyzyl on July 25, 2013.
- He was 51 years old.
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