On the eve of his solo concert in London, Dimash Qudaibergen gave an interview to The Upcoming, a UK-based publication. Targeting a young, culturally engaged audience, the outlet covers a wide range of events and happenings in the arts, highlighting emerging trends in film, television, music, theater, lifestyle, travel, and other fascinating aspects of contemporary life.

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Kazakh singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Dimash Qudaibergen has captivated audiences worldwide with his extraordinary vocal range and genre-defying performances that transcend linguistic and cultural borders. Prior to his London concert at OVO Arena Wembley on 12 November, Dimash discussed his artistic evolution, the meaning behind his Stranger tour, and how he continues to bridge East and West through music. In this conversation, he reflects on his Kazakh roots, his creative philosophy of “no boundaries,” and the emotions that drive his ever-expanding musical universe.

Your concert in London on 12 November is at OVO Arena Wembley. What meaning does performing in London, and especially at Wembley, hold for you at this stage in your career?

I’m delighted to greet all the readers, viewers, and my fans!

It’s not my first solo show in London, but you’re absolutely right to highlight the stage of my career.

Back in 2018, performing at the 3,000-seat Indigo at The O2 was a major milestone for a 23-year-old artist from Kazakhstan – a huge responsibility toward my country and my audience.

Now, eight years later, the venue is much larger, my Dear family has grown to include people from many countries, and I’ve gained significant international experience. But what’s interesting is that no matter how many achievements, awards, or titles come along, they never reduce the sense of responsibility or the thrill before going on stage.

So performing at the world-renowned Wembley Arena is, for me, a new and important step at this stage of my life.

For readers in the UK who may be discovering you for the first time, how would you describe yourself as an artist and the kind of musical journey you want to take your audience on?

It’s hard for me to fit my music into any single framework – in fact, I try not to have any. I believe it’s better to see once than to have me describe myself in words.

I hope that everyone attending my concert for the first time will find their own songs – the ones that resonate most deeply with them – or simply enjoy the diversity of our program, which we’ve woven into one story connecting our roots and our present.

The concert is titled “Stranger” – can you talk about what that word means to you in the context of this performance, and how you hope audiences in London will feel that theme?

The show is built around the song Stranger by composer Igor Krutoy, which has been part of my repertoire for quite some time.

The word Stranger can have several meanings. In this context, it’s more about being a wanderer, a traveler, an explorer of new lands – not just an unfamiliar person.

And if I am a stranger to someone at the start, that won’t last long – within a couple of hours of the concert, we’ll already be acquainted (smiles).

You sing in multiple languages. How do you decide which language fits a particular song or feeling? Has a language ever changed your interpretation or performance of a song?

The lyrics, of course, determine the message of the song. Some of my songs exist in multiple languages – for example, Let It Be, which was originally written in Chinese, I now perform in Kazakh.

At the same time, it’s not always necessary to translate lyrics directly. A good example is our rock arrangement of the Kazakh folk song Durdaraz, whose lyrics speak of tender feelings, but we present it in a completely different light. There’s a certain creative thrill in that crossover – and I truly enjoy it.

Your work spans opera, pop, rock, folk, rap, and more. How do you balance all these styles without losing your musical identity? Do you ever feel tension between genres?

That’s exactly what I meant earlier – my musical identity lies precisely in combining everything with everything, without being bound by rules or conventions.

My 26 years of musical education, which still continues, along with my passion for the music of different cultures, allow me to blend things that might seem impossible to combine at first glance.

You’ve been praised for your wide vocal range spanning multiple octaves. How do you maintain vocal health with such demands, especially during touring and high-intensity performances?

During tours, I try to maintain vocal rest before concerts, but before the show itself I warm up actively – both physically and vocally.

You are often described as a musical bridge between East and West. How do your Kazakh roots shape your music, and how do you incorporate that identity when performing in cities far from home?

Every one of my solo concerts includes songs in Kazakh – both traditional ones in modern arrangements and new works by myself and my fellow Kazakh composers.

I believe that music is the most direct way to convey the cultural code of a nation – to share unique messages that resonate with our inner world.

When you compose or select songs, what is your starting point – melody, lyric, accompaniment, emotional idea – and has that process evolved over time?

Emotion is always the starting point. Sometimes you hear an old song performed somewhere, and something stirs so deeply inside that the arrangement, instrumentation, and production path all begin forming in your mind at once.

Other times, real-life events move you so strongly that you feel compelled to express those emotions through music.

Are there artists, across any genre or era, whom you would love to collaborate with – and what would you like to explore with them?

As a child, I often dreamed – like any kid – “what if I could sing with…” or “meet…” Of course, not every dream comes true, but dreams also evolve with time.

I’m very grateful for the chance to have met people I once thought I could only see from afar – Jackie Chan, Igor Krutoy, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Lara Fabian…

Let’s see whom fate brings next – I’m curious myself (laughs).

When you perform internationally, audiences sometimes don’t speak your native language. How do you feel you connect with listeners regardless of language or cultural barriers?

Indeed, most of my international audience doesn’t speak Kazakh, and I don’t speak, say, Spanish or Chinese. I spent a lot of time in China, arriving there without even much English at first. It wasn’t easy, but we managed – and by “we,” I mean both myself and my audience, for which I’m deeply grateful.

Of course, English helps now, but honestly, for concerts it doesn’t really matter. Once the first song begins, there are no barriers – for the rest of the show, we’re united beyond languages or differences.

Looking ahead after the London show, what musical directions or projects interest you most? What do you hope people will remember of this phase of your career?

And here we come back to “stages” again… Yes, I’d say a new chapter of my creative life has begun. In 2026, my first producer project will be released – a collaboration with China’s Hunan Broadcasting System.

In the show Voice Beyond Horizon, we’ve tried to let participants from different countries “see” Kazakhstan through their eyes and hearts – to help viewers discover the beauty of my homeland through music.

I warmly invite all my dear audiences to visit us – welcome to Kazakhstan!