Baku, September 17, Anara Akhundova, AZERTAC

Every year on September 18, Azerbaijan celebrates National Music Day. The holiday is held on the birthday of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the founder of modern professional musical art in Azerbaijan, who turns 140 this year. On the same day, the Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival opens in the country. On the eve of these remarkable events, young musicians spoke to AZERTAC about the significance of the great composer’s creative legacy. They also shared their thoughts on how to promote Azerbaijani music worldwide and how to engage the younger generation with it.

Mahir Taghizade – opera singer, soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre:

For me, Uzeyir Hajibeyli is not just a composer but a figure who embodies the spiritual and cultural awakening of our people. He was a reformer, thinker, teacher, and the true architect of the Azerbaijani musical school. His creativity is a bridge between East and West, between our national traditions and global musical culture. When I perform Uzeyir bey’s works, I feel a connection with our roots, our history, and the soul of the people. His music inspires me not only as a musician but also as a person because it reflects a deep love for the homeland, faith in the power of art, and the aspiration for a bright future.

I am confident that Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music possesses universal power. It carries melodic clarity, dramatic depth, and a richness of national intonations that can resonate with listeners anywhere in the world. In my view, promoting his music requires a comprehensive approach. Above all, this means active participation in international festivals, tours by our theatres and symphony ensembles, as well as cooperation with foreign conductors, directors, and musicians. It is important to create high-quality recordings and visual projects—films, documentaries, online concerts—that can bring Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s legacy to millions of listeners.

I would like to emphasize separately that the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is doing great work in this direction today. This season, two premieres of the great composer’s operas will take place, which is vivid testimony that the process of popularization is being pursued purposefully. The theatre, by its own example, shows that we are not only preserving the legacy but also striving to present it in a modern light, making it accessible to new audiences and worthy of global attention.

Engaging young people is perhaps one of the most important tasks. Modern generations live in a world of fast-moving information flows, so it is essential to find new forms of presenting classical music. I believe there should be more interactive concerts, creative meetings, and projects in which young people can participate themselves, not just be listeners. Schools play a huge role: if children are shown from an early age the beauty and power of Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music, it will become a natural part of their lives.

Of course, modern technologies can also play their part. Online platforms, social networks, and short video projects with bright fragments of operas or symphonies can attract even those who have never encountered this music before.

But most importantly, it is live performance. When a young person hears an opera, a romance, or another work by Uzeyir bey in a concert hall for the first time, when they feel the energy of this music, they will never remain indifferent. I believe that it is through such experiences that young people develop love for classical Azerbaijani music and pride in their cultural heritage.

Eldaniz Alakbarzade – pianist:

For me, Uzeyir Hajibeyli is not only the “father of Azerbaijani professional music” but also a rare type of artist-builder: he is a bridge over which East and West meet without loss. His personality combines composer, educator, researcher, and institutional reformer. He didn’t just write music — he created the environment, the language, and the school in which that music could live.

His work proves that national intonation can sound universal if approached boldly and precisely. In “Leyli and Majnun,” he gave the mugham a staged form for the first time, and in “Koroghlu,” he presented the heroic epic with European dramaturgy without compromising its native melodic roots. The lightness and wit of “Arshin Mal Alan” and “O Olmasin, Bu Olsun” are lessons in musical theatre: how to speak about serious matters through a smile and how to make something uniquely “yours” understandable to everyone.

Uzeyir bey, for me, is a standard of compositional integrity and cultural courage. His music is the language through which Azerbaijan speaks to the world.

I believe that promoting Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music on the global stage requires a comprehensive approach. First and foremost, it is necessary to prepare high-quality scores, sheet music, and translations of his works so that performers in different countries can work with them easily. But scores alone are not enough: conditions must be created for this music to be performed on the world’s best stages. It is important to include Uzeyir bey’s overtures and arias in international festival programs, combining them with works by Bartók, Verdi, or Rimsky-Korsakov, showing that his music deserves to stand alongside recognized masterpieces.

Ambassadorial artists — singers, conductors, and ensembles who could regularly perform his works during their tours — are also of great importance. The media space plays a huge role as well: modern recordings, documentaries, educational courses, and short explanatory videos can help young listeners and students worldwide discover this repertoire. Together, all these efforts create the cultural environment in which Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music becomes understandable, accessible, and in demand — and with it, interest in Azerbaijani music as a whole will grow.

Engaging Azerbaijani youth with classical music, and especially with Uzeyir bey’s works, should be done in a way that is lively and engaging rather than formal. To start, simple and vivid formats are important: lesson-concerts in schools, short explanatory videos, light arrangements of his works for children’s ensembles and choirs. Teenagers should feel that this music belongs to them too, that it sounds contemporary and relatable. It is important for them to see live mugham performances with an orchestra, hear opera scenes with commentary, and learn the stories behind “Leyli and Majnun” or “Arshin Mal Alan” not from “boring” textbooks but through theatrical or multimedia projects.

Work with teachers and parents is crucial — they can support a child’s interest if they have ready-made materials and simple explanations. And, of course, it is necessary to create platforms where young people can participate themselves: competitions, scholarships, student productions, workshops where classical music meets contemporary art forms. Then Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s works will no longer seem distant or “museum-like” but will become part of a living cultural experience that young people can truly feel as their own.

Zumrud Davudova – opera singer, artist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre:

For me, Uzeyir Hajibeyli is not only a great composer but also a spiritual mentor for the entire Azerbaijani people. He became a symbol of national musical culture, successfully blending the rich traditions of mugham with classical European forms. Uzeyir bey’s work forms the foundation upon which modern Azerbaijani music has grown. His operas, symphonic works, songs, and romances remain vibrant and relevant, carrying both the national spirit and universal human values.

Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music has enormous potential for worldwide recognition, as it combines Eastern melodicism with European harmony to create a unique sound. To ensure that the younger generation loves and understands Uzeyir bey’s works, it is important to create an environment where this music feels natural and relatable. The key is to show that Uzeyir Hajibeyli is not only history but also contemporary: his music can inspire today, teaching people to appreciate beauty, the homeland, and art.

Agharahim Guliyev – flutist, producer:

Uzeyir Hajibeyli is the founder of the Azerbaijani classical music school. He is a person to whom generations of musicians owe the development of classical music culture in Azerbaijan. For me, he is in some ways a role model—not because he is placed on a pedestal, but because of his very nature as a person who constantly strove for the highest achievements. He set seemingly unattainable goals—and reached them!

To promote not only Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s music but Azerbaijani music in general, it is first and foremost important to possess cultural maturity oneself. One must deeply study their own culture in order to properly present it to people of other traditions, with different perspectives on art and music. Flexible thinking is essential to understand the nuances of perception and to correctly explain, present, or interpret our culture in a way that engages the listener. One must develop oneself, cultivate and promote culture, but above all—genuinely love what one does. This should not be for self-promotion based on the achievements of great predecessors, but for the sake of the music itself.

Unfortunately, I believe that Azerbaijani youth have largely lost interest in classical art. Part of the blame lies with the artists themselves, who are reluctant to change the way they interact with audiences, the format of events, and even their own attitude toward their work. If we, musicians and performers, approach our work seriously and truly innovatively—exploring, experimenting, finding fresh ways to engage not only young people but also older generations—people will naturally gravitate toward art. What is needed is momentum, living energy, not blind promotion of “glittering halls” and long-worn classical works.

Natella Shukurova – pianist, educator:

For me, Uzeyir Hajibeyli is not just an outstanding composer but a personality who was able to unite the depth of the national soul with world-class classical music. His work is a source of pride, a cultural heritage that inspires and gives strength. When I listen to his compositions, I feel not only the beauty of the music but also the breath of our history and our land.

I believe Uzeyir bey’s music needs to be brought more to the global stage through concerts, international festivals, modern arrangements, and projects with renowned musicians. It is very important to show that Azerbaijani music is alive, evolving, and capable of touching the hearts of people from different cultures. We should boldly use modern technologies, social media, and platforms so that our composers and performers can be heard worldwide.

As an educator, I see great responsibility in introducing students to Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s works. His music not only develops musical taste but also teaches an understanding of the beauty and depth of our culture. When children play or listen to his compositions, they learn to feel the music, and along with it, to respect their roots and their history. It is important for young people to see classical music not only as study material but also as a source of inspiration.

In my lessons, I try to explain that Uzeyir bey’s music is not “something from the past” but a living art form that can feel close to anyone if they truly listen.

I believe that through the personal example of a teacher—through love and respect for national music—this love is passed on to students. Then Uzeyir Hajibeyli’s works will not only be studied but genuinely felt by the younger generation.