Kongar-ool Ondar

He died after emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage in Kyzyl on July 25, 2013. He was 51 years old.

His first studio album, 1996's Echoes of Tuva, was released by the TuvaMuch Music label. He released another album sampling physicist Richard Feynman titled Tuva Talk.

Ondar is also known outside Tuva for inviting American blues musician Paul Pena to Tuva. Pena, who had learned throat singing before coming to Tuva, was the subject of the documentary Genghis Blues in which Ondar was also featured. In 1993, he performed at Frank Zappa's eclectic "garden party/soiree" gathering in his last days.

Kongar-ool Borisovich Ondar (Tuvan: Ондар Коңгар-оол Борис оглу, Ondar Konggar-ool Boris oglu, [ɔnˈdɑr kɔŋˈɡɑrɔːɮ bɐˈris ɔˈɡlu], Russian: Конгар-оол Борисович Ондар; 29 March 1962 – 25 July 2013) was a master Soviet and Russian Tuvan throat singer and a member of the Great Khural of Tuva. Ondar was born near the Khemchik River in western Tuva, in the village of Iyme. In the Central Asian tradition of self-fulfilling child naming, Kongar-ool literally translates to "loud boy." In 1983 Ondar was drafted into the army, but was discharged due to a neck injury. After, he served several years in prison in Siberia. In 1992, after his release, Ondar won an international throat-singing contest, which brought invitations to perform in Europe and the United States and began his singing career.