3rd International Mugham Festival “World of Mugham” kicks off in Baku
Baku, March 9 (AZERTAC). The Third International Mugham Festival “World of Mugham” has today started at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.
The festival that will last till March 19 is co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Union of Azerbaijani Composers.
First lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event. The First Lady delivered a speech in the opening ceremony.
Speech by First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva
“Ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, dear friends, good evening.
A very remarkable event is taking place in the cultural life of our city today. The opening ceremony of the third International mugam festival is held on this evening. I cordially welcome the participants of the festival, all those who have come to our country and tell them: Welcome to Azerbaijan!
It has already been the third time that the ancient art of mugam gathers the singers, masters, art figures, scientists and music experts from different countries, the wonderful music that has no boundaries will unite us, give us pleasant moments within ten days.
This year the opening ceremony of the festival of mugam is held at the Heydar Aliyev Center.
This architectural monument itself, like music, breeds different feelings and images in people. Some associate it with a sea wave, others to a caravan of clouds and some to a wind. This space, combining traditions and modernity is among the new symbols of Baku. Wonderful mugam, which is a pearl of our cultural heritage, will be heard at this stage this evening.
Dear friends, on the days of the festival we will be listening to famous masters and young singers together. The young people will take part in the contest of mugam. The performances of masters will be held at the Baku International Center of Mugam, the symphonic mugams and mugam opera will be heard at the Philharmonic, the Theater of Opera and Ballet and other concert halls. The unique synthesis of mugam and jazz will be performed at the Baku jazz club.
Modern opportunities of art of music will also be demonstrated along with ancient traditions and history of Azerbaijani mugam. All the same, we will witness the influence of mugam on all genres of music culture of our country in the 20th century. I hope that the program of the festival will also demonstrate our traditions, achievements and successes of different schools of mugams of the countries whose representatives are the guests of Azerbaijan. The most important is that the International Mugam Contest will open new names and talents, promote the further popularization and wider spread of mugam in both our country and abroad.
The festival of this year differs with a number of innovations. The first innovation is that the contest of mugam is held not only among khanende, it will also cover the art of instrumental mugam. Another novelty is that this festival will be attended by the students of the music schools that function in almost all regions of our country. They will perform together with the famous khanende and the guests arriving in our country which will certainly become an invaluable experience for young talents.
Unlike the previous years, the festival of this year will be held in not only Baku but also Nakhchivan, Ganja, Lankaran, Gabala, Shamakhy, Shirvan, and other cities and regions of our country.
Interest to mugam is growing in the world. We see it in the growing number of countries taking part in the festival. 24 countries take part in the festival this year. The scientific symposium due as part of the festival will also be attended by numerous experts and scientists who came from abroad.
Dear friends! The biggest heritage of every people, every nation is its cultural heritage. Azerbaijan is a country with ancient and rich history and culture. Throughout centuries we, as a nation, have preserved our cultural heritage, language, literature, poetry, music. Meanwhile, mugam is a real pearl of art. It is no accident that Azerbaijani mugam is included into the UNESCO list of masterpieces of the cultural heritage of the humanity and it is very encouraging that Azerbaijani tar and the art of playing tar are already on this list. This is the indicator of world attention and care about our cultural heritage, preservation of our cultural heritage.
Dear friends! You, probably, know that this festival is being prepared by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Since the first day of its activity the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has been paying special attention to preservation of our cultural heritage. We are preparing and implementing numerous events in this sphere, holding numerous festivals. Among them, I would like to note the Gabala music festival, festival named after Rostropovich, Qara Qarayev, Uzeyir Hajibeyli. Certainly, the most important among them is the International Festival of Mugam. I would like to express a deep gratitude to all who took part in preparation of the festival. Today I welcome our famous masters and express my gratitude and respect to them. You are our coryphées, you continue the art of mugam, breed new talents. I want to wish you success and long life.
Dear friends! In conclusion, I would like to cordially congratulate all of you on the coming day of Novruz. I wish success to the festival participants and pleasant moments to us.
And now I declare the third International Mugam Festival `World of Mugam` open. Thank you.”
xxx
The event brought together representatives from a number of countries, including the US, Turkey, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco.
The opening ceremony featured performances by Azerbaijan State Orchestra of Folk Instruments, State Choir Cappella, and State Music and Dance Ensemble.
The orchestras were conducted by People`s Artist Agaverdi Pashayev and Honorary Art Figure Fakhraddin Karimov.
Azerbaijan`s masters of mugham Simara Imanova, Tayyar Bayramov, Sabuhi Ibayev, Ilkin Ahmadov, Elnur Zeynalov, Arzu Aliyeva, Vusala Musayeva, Afag Abbasova, Farid Aliyev, Babak Niftaliyev, Sabina Arabli, Gullu Muradova and jazzman Shahin Novrasli performed songs by Azerbaijani and foreign composers.
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