Muhitdin Qoriyoqubov

Muhitdin Qoriyoqubov (1896 - 1957) was a singer, opera performer (baritone), actor, and one of the founders of the Uzbek musical theater. He was the first People's Hofiz of the Turkestan Republic (1923), an Honored Artist of Uzbekistan (1930), and a People's Artist of Uzbekistan (1936). Initially, he studied in an old-style school and from 1912-1914 at a madrasah, where he mastered recitation and was also known as a qari.

From a young age, he mastered folk singing traditions. At the same time, Qoriyoqubov was interested in new forms of art, participating in and organizing (1916) the first brass bands consisting of local musicians in Fergana. He actively participated in concerts, performing folk and classical songs («Yo‘l bo‘lsin», «G‘ayra-g‘ayra», «Olmacha anor», «Ko‘cha bog‘i»). He served as an actor, director (1918-1920), and leader (1921) of the Fergana Regional Muslim Political Dramatic Troupe, providing cultural services on the Fergana and Trans-Caspian fronts and in those regions. During this period, he was the first to portray on stage the characters of Solihboy, Fotih, Korboshi, and Qosimjon («The Boy and the Servant», «Fergana Tragedy», «Punishment of Slanderers», Hamza).

He studied at the K. Shorshteyn Theater Studio in Tashkent (1919) and the Institute of Theater Arts in Moscow (1922-1924). Together with Tamaraxonim, he promoted modern Uzbek art in Europe for the first time by performing Uzbek songs, yallas, and lapars in new interpretations at «Eastern Nights» (Moscow), the World Exhibition of Applied Arts (1925, Paris), and concert stages in Berlin. In 1926, he organized the Uzbek State Touring Concert Ethnographic Troupe in Samarkand, with which he toured Russia, Tatarstan, Georgia, and other places. Qoriyoqubov also actively participated in the formation of the Kokand and Andijan musical theaters. In 1927-1928, he participated in these theaters as an artistic director and director (with M. Miroqilov), reorganized the theater troupes, and played leading roles in performances: Nemat («Halima», G. Zafariy), Farhod («Farhod and Shirin», play by Khurshid, music by Sh. Shoumarov, Toychi Hofiz, and Yu. Rajabiy), Sultanbek («Arshin Mal Alan», U. Hajibeyov), and others. On the basis of the concert-ethnographic troupe, he organized the Uzbek State Musical Theater, where he served as an actor, director, and artistic director (1929-1933).