Zaur Nazhidovich Tutov is known in our country as a pop and academic singer, vocal teacher, public and political figure. His calling card was David Tukhmanov's song "Eternal Spring" - "Three months autumn, three months winter …". Zaur Tutov has a strong and deep voice, as well as a heartfelt and emotional manner of performance. Awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia.
Childhood and youth
Zaur Tutov was born in the Kabardino-Balkarian village of Baksan (formerly called the Old Fortress) on October 2, 1951. The head of the Mulberry family tragically died in a car accident, and Zaur does not remember his father at all. Mom Fatima - an accountant-cashier by profession - raised Zaur and his sister Tatyana alone. Until the fourth grade, the boy went to a Kabardian school and did not speak Russian at all. Then he continued his education at a Russian-language school and soon became fluent in Russian.
The Tutov family lived very modestly, and starting from the seventh grade, Zaur began to earn money - in the summer months he helped local builders build houses: he kneaded cement, brought building materials upstairs. He gave the earned money to his mother, and also provided himself with the things the teenager needed, clothes, and even bought himself a bicycle, which he had dreamed of for a long time.
The beginning of a musical career
When Zaur was in high school, singing teacher Robert Ivanovich drew attention to the young man's musical abilities, to his beautiful and strong voice (tenor-baritone) and suggested that he try to enter the vocal department of a music school. And this despite the fact that Zaur did not study at a music school, did not know musical notation and never even saw a piano or a grand piano! The young man plucked up courage and went to the city of Nalchik, to a music school. There he met the director of the school - Musa Khabalovich Khasanov, a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, who auditioned for applicants. Zaur Tutov performed folk Circassian and Russian songs, a couple of songs from the repertoire of Muslim Magomayev, and was immediately admitted to the music school, even despite the lack of musical theoretical training. By the third year, he had already mastered not only the basics of vocal art, but also played the piano quite well.
After graduating from a music school in 1971, Zaur Tutov was drafted into the army for two years. He served on Sakhalin, in the infantry forces.
Returning from the army, the young singer got a job at the Kabardino-Balkarian Philharmonic as a soloist. And almost immediately he became famous after participating in the All-Union Competition of Soviet Song Performers, which took place in 1973 in Minsk; there Tutov won the Second Prize. In the same year, he became a laureate of the World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Berlin. In 1976, Tutov received the First Prize in Sochi at the All-Russian competition "Red Carnation". He also took part in many other festivals and competitions.
Moving to Moscow
The services of the young artist did not go unnoticed: in 1976 Zaur Tutov was invited to work in Moscow as a soloist of the Mosconcert and Rosconcert. Moving to Moscow became an important milestone in the singer's biography. His repertoire was constantly expanding: it included various folk songs, romances and arias from operas by Russian and foreign composers, Soviet pop songs by such authors as Alexandra Pakhmutova, David Tukhmanov (his song "Eternal Spring" is especially popular performed by Zaur Tutov) and many others.
The growth of his career made it necessary to continue his education, and Zaur entered the Gnessin State Museum of Fine Arts (now the Russian Academy of Music) in the academic vocal class of Evgeny Semyonovich Belov, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. Tutov graduated from Gnesinka in 1986, and already in 1989 began teaching vocals at GITIS (now the Russian Academy of Theater Arts), combining teaching work with concert and touring activities. The singer has given concerts in the cities of the Soviet republics, as well as in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Israel, India, Turkey, and the USA. Zaur Nazhidovich also recorded at the recording studio.
Zaur Tutov also took part in various television programs: "Two grand pianos" (2001), "While everyone is at home" (2016) and others. Currently, Zaur Nazhidovich Tutov works at the Moscow State Institute of Culture and Arts - head of the department of pop vocal.
Social and political activity
In the early 2000s, Zaur Tutov showed himself in the field of social, political and state activities. In 2005, he returned to his homeland in Kabardino-Balkaria, where he was appointed Minister of Culture and Information Communications. It was a very difficult and responsible job, since the ministry supervised not only culture and mass media in the republic, but also public and religious organizations. Zaur Nazidovich made a great contribution to the development of the national culture of his native land. In 2008, Tutov returned to Moscow and received the post of Permanent Representative and Advisor to the Head of Administration under the President of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. He worked in this position until 2010.
Zaur Tutov's merits were appreciated by the state: he was awarded the titles of Honored Artist of Russia (1982), People's Artist of Russia (2011), People's Artist of the Republics of Karachay-Cherkessia (1994), Kabardino-Balkaria (2000), Dagestan 92014), Adygea (2017).
Personal life
In 1982, Zaur Nazhidovich met his future wife Madina Mukhamedovna. They met quite by chance while visiting friends when Zaur came to Nalchik on vacation. A year later, the young people got married. At that time, in Moscow, he did not have his own home, he rented an apartment that was completely unsuitable for family life. The young husband did not promise his wife the mountains of gold, but soon managed to provide the family with a decent level, overcoming all the difficulties of the late 80s - early 90s in Russia.
Madina Tutova received a higher education in economics, but her career did not work out - three children were born one after another: sons Idar and Inal (born in 1989 and 1991) and daughter Dana (born in 1992). Madina jokes that, having gone on maternity leave then, she still has not left it.
Parents devoted a lot of time to communicating with their children: they went on various trips, visited museums, theaters and the conservatory with them, but they deliberately did not give them musical education: Zaur was convinced that a musician should be either very good or none at all. All the children of the Tutovs have their own families. Dana's daughter became a radiologist.
An integral member of the Tutov family is Zaura's sister Tatyana, who lives in Nalchik, but is constantly in touch with her Moscow relatives. Zaur and Madina Tutov are avid dog lovers: the Yorkshire terrier Tsatsochka and the poodle Tobik live in their house.
