Various concert programs to be presented as part of International Mugham Festival

VI International Mugham Festival World of Mugham begins today in Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

The VI International Mugham Festival World of Mugham, which will last from June 18 to 25, is organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education and the Azerbaijan National Conservatory.

Azerbaijan is represented at the festival by the winners of the National Mugham Competition held on April 24-27. Within the framework of the festival, various concerts will be organized in the cities of Baku, Agjabedi and Shusha.

The music festival will start today with the concerts of People's Artist Alim Gasimov at the Heydar Aliyev Palace, People's Artist Anvar Sadigov and Honored Artist Emil Afrasiyab at the National Conservatory.

On June 19, the festival will continue at the International Mugam Center, National Conservatory and Stone Chronicle Museum with the concerts of Honored artist Elchin Shirinov from Azerbaijan and a number of mugham performers, Daud Khan Sadozai from Afghanistan and Mahan Mirarab from Iran.

Within the framework of the World of Mugham festival, the next performances will be held on June 20 at the Chamber and Organ Music Hall, the International Mugham Center, and the National Conservatory. People's artist Sakina Ismayilova from Azerbaijan, laureate of international competitions Etibar Asadli, Vasumathi Badrinathan and Jyotsna Srikanth from India, and Kankou Kouyate from Mali will perform in those places.

On the next day of the festival - on June 21, Cadenza Orchestra operating under the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, pianist Tural Rafael, Majadi Nahhas from Jordan, Ilyos Arabov from Uzbekistan, and Sardor Soliyev from Tajikistan are expected to perform.

Mustafa Said and Asil ensemble from Egypt will perform at the International Mugham Center, Firudin Hamidov from Azerbaijan at the National Conservatory, Varijashree Venugopal, Jyotsna Srikanth from India, En Chordais ensemble from Greece will perform at the Chamber and Organ Music Hall on June 22.

On June 24, the concerts of the Uzeyir Hajibeyli Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra will be held at the Heydar Aliyev Center, and the concerts of People's Artist, singer Teyyub Aslanov and pianist Nijat Aslanov will be held at the National Conservatory.

Within the framework of the festival, a concert will be organized in Agjabedi with the participation of mugham performers. There will be mugham and poetry performances in various places in Shusha, Azerbaijan’s cultural capital. During the days of the festival, an international symposium will be held, instrumental mughams will be presented in the Old City, a mugham marathon performed by 24 groups replacing each other in the same place for 24 hours, and an open-air Mugam hour will be organized.

The last day of the festival - June 25, will be the closing ceremony of Mugham World at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic named after Muslim Magomayev. A concert will be presented here after awarding the winners of the International Mugham Competition held within the framework of the festival.

The international jury from Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Turkiye will choose the winners of the competition for singing and instrumental performance.

In recent years, fundamental works have been carried out in the direction of protection and development of mugham in Azerbaijan. As a result of the support of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva to Azerbaijani national culture, mugham art and the work carried out in this direction, Azerbaijani mughams were included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

It is worth to note that National Mugham competitions and International Mugham festivals have been organized since 2009 at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation led by Mehriban Aliyeva. These projects aim to once again demonstrate and keep alive the mugham, which is Azerbaijani national treasure, in the context of world culture.