He was declared a member of the «extremist formation» «Da Zoraŭ» (To the Stars). According to the KGB, he and Siamion Malashenkaŭ are part of it.
Ales Chumakou was born on June 14, 1981, in Minsk. He is known as a musician, a master craftsman of gusli, and a member of the band «Stary Olsa».
Ales graduated from the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, where he received education as an automatic control engineer and foreign language translator. During his studies, he actively participated in author's song clubs at BSU and the Linguistic University.
Since 2002, Chumakou has played and sung in the medieval music band «Stary Olsa», using gusli, zhaleikas, and other ancient instruments. In 2005, he founded the band «Kelikh Kola» (Circle Chalice), which performed Belarusian folk dances to bagpipes and gusli, but the project was short-lived. From time to time, the musician performed solo with a folk dance program.
In addition, Ales translated Irish heroic poetry into Belarusian. In the band Ceilidh Ceol, formed in the mid-2000s, he performed ancient Irish songs in Belarusian, dedicated to freedom and the memory of ancestors. Although the band stopped performing in 2018, Chumakou continued to sing these songs independently.
In 2020, his vocals were featured in the Belarusian dubbing of Netflix's series «The Witcher» — he performed the famous song Toss A Coin To Your Witcher in Belarusian translation.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Ales Chumakou has also been studying the history of gusli and their making. He created some of the instruments under the guidance of master Zmitra Sasnoŭskaha.
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