Dimash Qudaibergen

Dinmukhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen (born 24 May 1994), known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen and mononymously as Dimash ( dih-MAHSH), is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is university-trained in classical as well as contemporary music, and is known for his exceptionally wide vocal range. He has performed songs in 16 languages.

Although offered a position at the Astana Opera, he decided to pursue a career in contemporary music, mixing classical elements and traditional Kazakh music with pop music.

He gained significant popularity in Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries in 2015 upon becoming the Grand Prix winner of Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus. He rose to fame in China with his participation as a "wildcard competitor" in Hunan TV's Singer 2017 (Chinese: 歌手2017), finishing second overall.

Dinmukhammed Qanatuly Qudaibergen was born on 24 May 1994 in Aktobe, to Qanat Qūdaibergenūly Aitbaev (Kazakh: Қанат Құдайбергенұлы Айтбаев) and Svetlana Aitbaeva (Kazakh: Светлана Айтбаева). He is a Muslim. His father previously led the regional Cultural Development Board of Aktobe. His mother is a soprano singer at the Aktobe Philharmonic Society, a Member of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Development (Deputy of Maslihat of Aktobe region) and artistic director of the children's studio Saz in the Aktobe Region.

Qudaibergen has a younger sister named Raushan and a younger brother named Abilmansur, who is also a musician, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and drummer.

Qudaibergen was brought up in a close-knit musical family, and his grandparents played a major role in his upbringing, which followed largely traditional Kazakh customs.

Qudaibergen began performing at a young age, singing and playing the piano. His first appearance on stage was at the age of two in a minor role in a local theatre production. At home, Qudaibergen took an interest in musical instruments, and his parents and his music teacher noticed that he had absolute pitch. At the age of five, he began to take piano and vocal lessons at the children's studio of the local music college. Qudaibergen first sang on stage the same year, at the age of five. Aged six, in 2000, he won the national piano contest Aynalayin.

At the age of five, he began taking violin and singing lessons at the children's studio of the Aktobe Music College, where he would later attend, accompanied by his grandmother Miua. He has expressed gratitude to his early teachers and to his grandmother, who took him to his lessons every day despite the pain in her legs. Dimash first sang on stage the same year, at the age of five. He later attended Gymnasium No. 32 in Aktobe. Dimash completed a Broadway Musical master class in 2009.

In 2014, he graduated in Classical Music with a specialization in voice (Bel Canto) from the Akhmet Zhubanov Aktobe Music College Aktobe and began his studies in Contemporary Music (jazz, pop) in the Kazakh National University of Arts in Astana, where he graduated with a major in Voice on 27 June 2018.

On 18 June 2020, he graduated from the same university with a master's degree in Composition by defending his master's thesis with a perfect score and received a recommendation for admission to doctoral studies in music.

In December 2022, Dimash became the owner of the Bolashak International Scholarship.

On 18 December 2025, Qudaibergen was awarded the title of the Honorary Professor at the Kazakh National Medical University. He is only the second person to receive this honour.

He began singing and playing the piano in various places and competitions throughout his childhood. At the age of six, in 2000, he won the national piano contest Aynalayin.

From 2010 to 2013, Dimash participated in and won four major singing competitions, in Kazakhstan (Sonorous Voices of Baikonur, 2010, and Zhas Kanat, 2012), Ukraine (Oriental Bazaar, 2012), and Kyrgyzstan (Meikin Asia, 2013).

With winning the prestigious National Zhas Kanat Contest in 2012, Dimash gained for the first time wide attention from the Kazakh national media. He won the three-day vocal competition with a full jury score of 180 out of 180 points; the first time in the history of the contest.

In 2013, he was invited to perform as a guest singer at the Türkçevizyon Gala Night in Denizli, Turkey.

As a teenager, Dimash also became involved in taekwondo and swimming. During this time he composed the music for two of his future hits, "Körkemim" (Kazakh: Көркемім) with lyrics written by his father and "Unforgettable Day" based on a poem by Baisengir. Dimash also recorded three music videos, two versions of Körkemim (2013, 2014) and "Daididau" (2014).

In 2014, he graduated from the Zhubanov Music College in Aktobe and began his studies in Astana at the Kazakh National University of Arts at the faculty of "Pop Art". Dimash continued performing in public and even participated in a concert for the Day of Teacher. On 30 December 2014, he received an award from the Daryn State Youth Award.

Following his graduation, Dimash performed in various European and Asian countries. In 2015, he was invited to participate at the Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus, an annual international contest for prominent singers, after one of the organizers had seen him perform live in Kazakhstan. Dimash went on to win the Grand Prix on 13 July 2015, with a score of 175 points out of 180. During the three days of the contest, he was the clear favorite of both the jury and audience. With his original renditions of the Kazakh folk song "Daididau", the Russian singer Alla Pugacheva's "Blizzard Again" (Russian: Опять Метель) and the French singer Daniel Balavoine's "SOS d'un terrien en détresse", he gained wide recognition from the jury and international media. Chairman of the jury, Polad Bülbüloğlu, stated that Dimash possessed three voices in one: a low and medium voice, and altino, a rare voice, and that he used all of them professionally.

Upon winning Slavianski Bazaar, Qudaibergen regularly appeared in national TV shows and public events. His guest performances included at Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; at the theatrical show Mangilik El, dedicated to the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate; at the 2015 Eurasia International Film Festival in Almaty; and at an Astana Opera Concert that was attended by the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Dimash released his second own composition "Unforgettable Day" in August 2015. In October 2015, Qudaibergen was selected to represent Kazakhstan at the 2015 ABU TV Song Festival in Istanbul, Turkey. Dimash performed "Daididau", receiving a standing ovation. In November, Dimash performed at the closing ceremony of the Culture and Arts Capital of the Turkic World festival in Mary, Turkmenistan.

He released his self-titled debut extended play (EP) on 1 January 2016. Dimash appeared on various TV shows singing "My Swan" (Kazakh: Аққуым) in a duet with Mayra Muhammad-kyzy. In February 2016, his rendition of "Daididau" was selected by the European Broadcasting Union to represent Kazakhstan in their "Around the World in 80 Minutes of Music" program dedicated to the World Radio Day 2016 that was played by radio stations around the world. In March, Dimash sang with his parents at the Women's Day concert in Astana, and took part in the "All Stars for My Beloved" concert dedicated to International Women's Day at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. In March and April, he went on tour with the Kazakh University of Arts Symphony Orchestra in Vienna, Austria; Maribor, Slovenia; and Belgrade, Serbia, performing "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" and "Daididau".

Dimash had his first headlined tour from April to December 2016, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of independence of Kazakhstan. Dimash achieved 21 out of the 27 total planned concerts in 25 regions of Kazakhstan, which also included two additional concerts in the cities of Kazan and Ufa in Russia. He named his tour Unforgettable Day, after his own song by the same name. The concerts consisted of a wide variety of songs in various languages. He received the "Pop Artist" award at the People's Favorite ceremony in Kazakhstan.

In early 2017, Dimash appeared in the fifth season of Hunan Television's I Am a Singer (Chinese: 歌手2017), under the recommendation of director Hong Tao, and signed a contract with Black Gold Talent in Beijing. At 22, he was the youngest participant in the history of the show, and competed against professional and top-selling Chinese singers as a 'wildcard' competitor. Dimash's mother later said that he hoped to reach at least the middle stage of the competition.

He won Episodes 1, 2 and 6, with his performances of "S.O.S d'un terrien en détresse", "Opera 2", and "Adagio". He made it to the finals, and finished as runner-up to Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam.

In Episode 1 of Singer 2017, Dimash sang "SOS d'un terrien en détresse". After winning this episode, Dimash's name became prominent in social media and his success made headlines in China, Kazakhstan as well as French media and TV programs.

Dimash also won Episode 2 with his version of Vitas' "Opera 2", and came in third in Episode 3 with his rendition of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". Hunan TV and the Chinese media named him "a bridge for Kazakh-Chinese cultural cooperation". Between the recordings of Episodes 3 and 4, Dimash performed at the 2017 Winter Universiade Opening Ceremony, singing Sarah Brightman's "A Question of Honor" with Zarina Altynbayeva. He performed his first ever Mandarin song "Late Autumn" (Chinese: 秋意浓) in Episode 4 and ranked third. During the broadcast of Episode 4, Dimash's meeting with Jackie Chan, his childhood idol, was shown. He won Episode 6 with his rendition of Lara Fabian's "Adagio" – a performance which was praised by Fabian.

For Episode 7, Dimash performed his rendition of the traditional Kazakh folk song "Daididau", accompanied by the Folk Instrumental Ensemble of Dimash's university, the Kazakh National University of Arts. Dimash and the instrumentalists performed wearing traditional Kazakh costumes (shapan). He started the performance by playing a traditional piece named "Adai" (Kazakh: Адай) on the dombra, and then sang "Daididau". He came in third. His performance was received positively and sparked interest in Kazakh music and culture in China. Dimash later said in an interview that this gave him the opportunity to "make sure once again that music knows no boundaries". After the broadcast of Episode 7, a documentary about Dimash aired on Hunan TV.

Dimash continued having numerous performances in China. To highlight a few: he performed "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "Auld Lang Syne" (in Mandarin), accompanied by pianists Wu Muye and Maksim Mrvica, at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala; "Jasmine" in a duet with the Grammy-winner Wu Tong at the Chinese New Year Gala; a rendition of Lionel Richie's "Hello" as a guest performer at Singer 2018; and "Daididau", accompanied by an orchestra, at the One Belt One Road Gala. He was invited as guest and performer at the "Choose Big Star" variety show; performed "You and Me" in a duet with Wáng Lì at the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival, and premiered his first English single "Screaming" at the "Idol Hits" show. In December, he performed his own composition "Unforgettable Day" at the Miss World 2018 Final, and Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" at the Hainan International Film Festival.

Dimash also participated in the "PhantaCity" short video play, in which he starred as the main actor and performed "If I Never Breathe Again" and "When You Believe".

He held three solo concerts in 2018: two "D-Dynasty" concerts in Fuzhou, and Shenzhen; and a solo concert in London, within the scope of the "Kazakhstan Day of Culture".

In May, Dimash performed at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. In July, he appeared at the Slavic Bazaar 2018 in Vitebsk, Belarus, as a judge and guest performer, and sang "SOS d'un terrien en détresse". In September, he participated as a guest at the international contest for young pop singers New Wave in Sochi, Russia, where he performed "Sinful Passion" for the first time, and sang "Adagio" at the closing ceremony.

In 2018, he began collaborating with Russian producer and composer Igor Krutoy, who had a significant impact on Dimash's promotion in Russia and he was often seen on TV in Russia. This continued until February 2022. The day after the war between Russia and Ukraine began, he posted a black square on Instagram and wrote that he was in favor of peace. During the entire conflict, he never performed in Russia, canceled his performances in Belarus, and ended his collaboration with Igor Krutoy. However, they continue to communicate with each other and their families.

In January, he joined the Super Vocal TV competition for classical singers in China as a member of the judges.

In early 2019, Dimash participated in the CBS talent competition The World's Best, in which he was presented to the US audience as the "Six Octave Man" and "man with the world's widest vocal range". He performed "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" in the audition round and "All by Myself" in the battle round. Despite being listed as front-runner, Dimash withdrew from the competition in the champions round (semi-final), citing that he wished to leave the opportunity to younger performers, and after withdrawing he performed "Adagio" (the other two contestants of this round were the 13-year-old Indian pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram and the 12-year-old Kazakh singer Daneliya Tuleshova).

On 16 April 2019, Dimash performed 'SOS D'un Terrien En Detresse' at the inauguration ceremony of the Year of Kazakhstan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

In June, he released his first album, iD. It reached platinum status within 37 seconds after release, and triple-platinum within the first hour.

He held his second large-scale solo concert, Arnau (Kazakh: Арнау) (Dedication), in the Astana Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 29 June, and the sell-out performance attracted 40,000 people.

In early 2020, he appeared on two movie soundtracks, singing Hāi pí yíxià (Chinese: 嗨皮一下) for Vanguard and Across Endless Dimensions, theme song of Creators: The Past.

In February, his Arnau Europe Tour started, but was interrupted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, he performed on live stream at Tokyo Jazz Festival (jp), and in June appeared on CCTV1's Everlasting Classics (zh) singing Tang dynasty poetry by Zhang Jiuling.

On 18 June 2020, IPZUSA, a company based in New Jersey, officially announced on its website that a contract had been signed with Qudaibergen, to provide family-focused management, representation and consulting.

On 30 September, it was announced that Dimash would debut a Kazakh language song, being the first artist from Kazakhstan to appear on the official YouTube channel of MTV USA. His songs continued to be ranked in the Top 5 by MTV USA Livestream for the next 10 weeks from 2 October to 18 December 2020. Interviews were broadcast on MTV USA YouTube Livestream with Dimash and Host Kevan Kenney between December 2020 and February 2021.

On 16 January, Dimash held his first online concert – Dimash Digital Show.

His performance of "SOS d'un terrien en détresse", "War and Peace", along with 15 other songs, marked the artist's collaboration with Project C.U.R.E.

Later that week two special performances (on 17 January, "Samaltau", and on 20 January, "SOS d'un terrien en détresse") performed by Dimash were streamed by Sister Cities International for their 2021 Online Annual Gala Event, with the theme All Roads Lead to Diplomacy.

On 31 January, the single "Golden" music video by Dimash made its official debut via the Tixr American streaming platform immediately following the encore of the Dimash Digital Show on the same day.

From 15 January to 4 June 2021, Dimash continually received a Top 5 ranking from the MTV USA Friday Livestream.

Dimash held his first solo live concert since the pandemic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 25 March 2022, at the Coca-Cola Arena. Then resumed two of his Arnau tours—in Düsseldorf on 9 April 2022, and Prague on 16 April 2022.

In July 2022, Dimash announced his new concert tour Stranger to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 23 September 2022, at Almaty Arena in the city.

The tour continued in Yerevan, Armenia on 29 April 2023, at Karen Demirchyan Complex, and in Antalya, Turkey on 6 May 2023 at Expo 2016 congress building.

Dimash made his Southeast Asian debut concert at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 24 June 2023, at Axiata Arena.

In a concert in Hong Kong on 23 December, he premiered two songs to the surprise of his audience, "Smoke" and "When I've Got You".

In 2024, Dimash held solo concerts at Budapest, Hungary on 4 May 2024 at the Laszlo Pappa Sports Arena and at Istanbul, Turkey on 24 May 2024 at the Beşiktaş stadium, on the occasion of his 30th birthday. Dimash continued his Stranger tour with a two-day concert on 13 and 14 September 2024 at Astana Arena, Kazakhstan. He held concerts in Prague, Czech Republic on 22 November 2024 at the Sportovní hala Fortuna and Düsseldorf, Germany on 24 November 2024 at the PSD Bank Dome.

He also debuted as a judge on the International classical music competition Virtuosos Visegrad 4+.

In 2025, Dimash held solo concerts at New York (Madison Square Garden) on 5 October 2025, Mexico City on 8 October 2025 (Auditorio Nacional) and 10 October 2025 (Palacio De Los Deportes). He continued the tour at Barcelona (Olimpic Arena Badalona 8 November), London (OVO Arena Wembley 12 November 2025) and Berlin (Max-Schmeling-Halle 14 November 2025). The last Stranger concert was at Riga, Latvia (Xiaomi Area) on 12 December 2025.

On 5 April 2025, he performed at the Turksoy 2025 Cultural Capital Opening Ceremony concert (Aktau, Kazakhstan).

On 2 June 2025, He performed 'Adagio' with Lara Fabian at her concert in London.

He also performed on 6 July 2025 at the second anniversary of the Ho Guom Theatre, Hanoi, Vietnam with Placido Domingo, Kristine Opolais and the Sun Symphony Orchestra.

Dimash was invited to perform at 4th Meikin Asia International Festival of Popular Music Performers on the 22 and 23 July 2025 where he was presented an award 'People's Artist of Kyrgyzstan' by President Sadyr Zhaparov.

On 16 January 2026, Dimash performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2026 Tmall NEWty Festival Offline Events in Shanghai, China.

He also participated as ambassador in the Freedom Inside Forum which was held in Astana on 9 April 2026.

Dimash received the Weibo Macau China Award for Annual Contribution to International Cultural Exchange, his first international award as a producer on April 11, marking a new milestone in his career, at the 2026 Weibo Gala in Macau.

On 18 April 2026, Dimash performed together with Placido Domingo at the 'Three Icons One Stage' concert, with the third artist Stjepan Hauser pulling out due to injuries. Other classical music stars who took to the stage were talents such as Yelena Dudochkin, Plácido Domingo Jr., Mansur Qudaibergen, Soma Balázs-Piri and Bence Bánkövi, with the 60-piece Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra, conducted by Péter Pejtsik and Eugene Kohn.

Dimash has been a model for fashion labels and for Lifestyle and Fashion magazines. He was on the magazine covers of Men's Health, Southern Metropolis, Starbox, Easy, L’Officiel Hommes, Ivyplume, Chic, Chic Teen, and Elle. He was also featured in photo series of other magazines, including Cosmopolitan and OnlyLady, and in fashion videos for e.g. Elle Shop and Cosmopolitan.

Dimash starred as an actor in several Chinese and Russian TV productions.

Dimash is the initiator in 2018 of the annual Kazakh Baqytty Bala Children's Singing Contest. He also served as a jury member for Bala Dausy, Slavic Bazaar, Super Vocal, New Wave, and music contest Virtuosos. In 2026, Dimash was executive producer for 'Voice Beyond Horizon' a program on Hunan TV channel which premiered on 5 February 2026.

In November 2021, it was announced that a museum dedicated to Dimash Qudaibergen will be established in the singer's home city, Aktobe, Kazakhstan.

In 2015, Dimash Qudaibergen gave a charitable concert, named "From Heart to Heart", in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, to provide essential medical treatment for a five-year-old girl. He was joined by the Kazakh pop singer Dosymzhan Tanatarov for the event.

Dimash gave benefit performances at the Grand Charity Ball 2015, in the Kazakhstan cities of Shymkent, Kyzylorda and Uralsk. The events were organized by the Alpamys Sharimov Foundation, and the funds were donated to children with hearing and speech impairment.

In early 2016, he joined the Kazakh "Do Good" campaign that provides help for people with disabilities, illnesses and in financial need.

In 2016, he also gave a benefit performance at the "100 Grandmas and Grandpas" Charity Evening of the "Zaman Are We" Project in Astana, Kazakhstan. The elderly of the regional retirement homes were invited as honorary guests and the proceeds of the event were used for social, economic and medical help for elderly residents.

Qudaibergen donated all profits of his 2016 "Unforgettable Day" concert, held in his home town Aktobe, to a regional charity organization. With the funds from the concert, seven families in need were supplied with water, utilities, medical care and clothing. A wheelchair accessible ramp was also set up for a wheelchair-using resident.

During the 2022 Kazakh protests, Dimash made an Instagram post on 4 January calling for a peaceful solution to the issues raised by the protesters as well as internal stability and calmness. Dimash was one of the very few Kazakh celebrities to comment on the protests. On 5 January, Dimash's account went offline without any explanation. He had over three million followers and was one of the most followed Kazakh accounts on the platform.