After graduating in the Republican School of Variety and Circus Arts (the vocal class of L.Kesoglu) and Alma-Ata Musical School (Department of Choral Conducting, Eskalieva became an ensemble member of the famous
Gulder (Гүлдер) formation. She first rose to popularity when she participated on the soviet Singing Competition
With Song through Life (С песней по жизни) in 1979, which she won. After that she went on to become one of the most well-known singers of Kazakhstan and was touring through the entire Soviet Union. She eventually moved to Moscow and from then on also went on tour in
Algeria,
Cuba,
Czechoslovakia,
Denmark and the
German Democratic Republic. In 1984, she went on winning the
Golden Orpheus Festival in
Sofia. Eskalievas range goes from Kazakh Folk Songs to modern compositions. In 2008, she recorded a charity Single with the boygroup
Percy to support children suffering of
Cardiac disease. First planning on becoming an actress, she occasionally appeared in front of the film camera.Throughout the years, Eskalieva has been supportive of aspiring singers in her home country. In 1996, she founded a Music Atelier aiming to find and support young singing talent in Kazakhstan. She was a jury member in
SuperStar KZ 3 & 4, the Kazakh version of
Pop Idol as well as on
X Factor, where she was the winning mentor in the second season held in 2012 with her contestant Andrey Tikhonov. Currently she is teaching at the
Academy of Vocal Arts Zhurgenev. ==Personal life==