Kazakh girl plays kobyz while skydiving

Kazakh kobyz player Lyayla Tazhibayeva together with Timofey Merkulov, retired colonel, prepared an unusual gift for Kazakhstanis on the eve of October 25 Republic Day. The young woman made a parachute jump and played the kobyz (Kazakh national string instrument) in the sky, Kazinform News Agency reports.

Lyayla Tazhibaeva played Zhez Kiik kui (musical composition performed with national instruments such as dombra, kobyz) by outstanding Kazakh composer Ykylas.

“We wanted to set a Guinness world record - to jump with a parachute and play the kobyz. This is a new experience. Everything seems easy to a person who has jumped with a parachute,” Lyayla Tazhibaeva says.

“The country of free spirited people, the country of the brave,” she says in the video, having unfurled the Kazakh flag in the sky.

Timofey Merkulov is a retired colonel, vice-president of the Kazakhstan Aviation Sports Federation, licensed tandem master.

Laylya Tazhibayeva is a gold winner of the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, and laureate of international and republican competitions.