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March 18, 2015

Mugham World 4th International Mugham Festival comes to an end

Closing ceremony of the Mugham World 4th International Mugham Festival took place, March 18, at the Heydar Aliyev Palace. Winners of the 4th International Mugham Contest were rewarded at the ceremony.


The Festival was realized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Composers Union, March 11 to March 18. 


Addressing the ceremony, minister of culture and tourism Abulfaz Garayev congratulated the participants on the upcoming Novruz Bayram. 


It was informed at the ceremony that the Mugham World 4th International Mugham Festival was another successful event among the large-scale music events that have already become a tradition in the country. Performance of masters of mugham coming from around the world testified to mugham’s being such a great and rich type of art bringing together different peoples’ traditions.


Emphasizing the great path of development Azerbaijan has been through to date, A.Garayev said official documents signed by President Ilham Aliyev in connection with culture and art are giving great impetus towards the development of this area. 


The minister said the art of mugham risen to a completely new level, having stemmed from deep roots, religion, culture and creativity of great writers. He specifically underscored that this was possiblemostly due to the undeniable activity of Mehriban Aliyeva, the first lady of Azerbaijan. Today, mugham is among the types of art that are cherished not only by the people of Azerbaijan, but also the whole world. Along with having its worthy place in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the World, mugham has taken  a new breath. 


Talking about this music holiday, the minister brought to the attention of attendees that a scientific symposium, international contest of young performers and a series of concerts were arranged in the city of Baku and 7 districts of Azerbaijan within the framework of the Festival. 


A.Garayev said he was sure new images and performers participating in this traditionally held festival will make their valuable contribution to the art of mugham – the great treasure of the people of Azerbaijan.


Once more greeting the guests of the music holiday, the minister of culture and tourism thanked them for the respect and attention shown towards the art of mugham. 


Then rewarding of the winners of the mugham contest held within the framework of the Mugham World 4th International Mugham Festival took place.


Winners were rewarded by minister of culture and tourism Abulfaz Garayev, artistic director of the Festival, chairperson of the Composers Union, people’s artist Firangiz Alizadeh and chairperson of the contest’s jury, rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatoire, people’s artist Siyavush Karimi. 


Musicians from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Jordan, Latvia, Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China participated in the contest. 


In the contest on solo performance, Azerbaijani khanendeh Aytan Maharramova and Isa Shokhri from Iran took the first place, Ilham Ismoilov  (Uzbekistan) and Orkhan Huseynli (Azerbaijan) the second place, while Lamekan Group  (Belgium/Turkey) and Gerbi Diyar Kuyshiliri Group (China) were awarded the third place. 


On instrumental performance, Aygul Hasanova from Azerbaijan (kanoon) took the  first place, the second place was given to Tareg Jundi (oud) and Zargalam Jafarova from Azerbaijan (kamancha), while Azerbaijani musician Tofiq Mammadov (tar) took the third place.


Winners were presented diplomas and prize money.


Khanendeh from Iran Ibrahim Goulami, Sitora Karamatullo from Tajikistan and Khatai Hajiyev from Azerbaijan were awarded special prize of the contest. 


No one was conferred on the Grand Prix award.


At the end of the ceremony, a gala-concert with participation of the winners took place. Along with the winners, the State Symphonic Orchestra of Azerbaijan named after Uzeir Hajibeyli and the Azerbaijan State Choir performed.  Also the premiere of “Heydarbaba” Cantata by composer Ruslan Aghabeyov took place at the ceremony.


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