NEWS

Umid 2021 International Art Contest has come to an end. Nearly 464 participants from 8 countries took part in the contest held by the Azerbaijan Art and Culture Union and the Youth Union.

The competition was held in the nominations "solo" and "duets". Art Directions included music (keyboards, winds and percussion instruments), vocals, visual arts, theater and word of mouth, dance, design and modeling.

"For a whole year we have lived with the hope of defeating the coronavirus pandemic. We also all hope for a lasting peace in our lands. We live with confidence in the further prosperity of our country and the happiness of our children. I think that the participants reflected this in their works, " Aziz Azizov told.

The jury consisted of famous art and cultural figures, including the President of the Azerbaijan Dance Association, board member of the Youth Union Aziz Azizov, director of the National Conservatory's Art Gymnasium Ayten Ahmadova, Head of the Department of Performing Arts  at Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts Sabina Mehdiyeva, Chairman of the Arts Council Azerbaijan Dadash Mammadov and representatives of relevant organizations and universities.

Azerbaijani singer Emil Kadirov will give a concert at Vegas City Hall in Moscow on November 19.

The concert program is called "In Memory of the Great Baritones". The evet honors the memory of the legendary Azerbaijani and Russian singers Muslim Magomayev, Joseph Kobzon, Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Sergey Zakharov.

Special guests of the program will be People's Artist of Russia, Renat Ibragimov, Honored Artist of Russia Diana Gurtskaya and others. 

Emil Kadirov is currently living in Russia. Kadirov is a graduate of the Rashid Behbudov Baku Music School in classical guitar and Belgorod College of Music. 

He is also a participant in master classes by Elena Obraztsova and Tamara Sinyavskaya, and a laureate of international competitions.

In 2012, Emil was invited to perform at Romansiada Contest of Young Vocalists, where he became a finalist and afterwards was nominated as one of award holders.

The singer successfully represented Azerbaijan at the New Wave 2018 International Competition for Young Pop Singers in Sochi.

Emil’s concert repertoire includes numerous opera arias, Russian romances as well as popular Russian and foreign songs.

Emil Kadirov recently founded a music school in Moscow.

MUSIC WAY is a music school for talented kids and adults. The music school gathers music experts who are passionate about their work.

Azerbaijan Culture Minister Anar Karimov has met with Azerbaijani artists living in Turkey.

Many political and art figures, including Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey Khazar Ibrahim, Azerbaijan's Consul General of Azerbaijan in Istanbul Narmina Mustafayeva, a well-known conductor, teacher at Istanbul Conservatory, People's Artist, Ramiz Melikaslanov, famous drummer, People's Artist   Alikhan Samadov, talented artist, teacher at Istanbul Yeditepe University, Honored Art Worker Teymur Rzayev, director of Istanbul City Municipality Theater, Honored Art Worker Melahet Abbasova and others attended the event held at Turkan Saylan Cultural Center. 

In his remarks, Anar Karimov stressed that the close multilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey also cover the cultural sphere.

The Minister pointed out that the holding of joint projects between the two countries, including cooperation in the field of cinema was on the agenda during his visit to Turkey.

This topic was discussed in detail with representatives of the Turkish film industry.

Furthermore, cultural figures exchanged views on the creative and pedagogical activities of Azerbaijani artists in Turkey.

The meeting discussed the work done to promote Azerbaijani culture and art, and future perspectives.

Anar Karimov also viewed the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of People's Artist Mikayil Abdullayev and the premiere of the play "Someone is to blame" staged by the Mask-Kara Theater on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the playwright, writer and cultural figure Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev.

During his trips to India, Afghanistan, Hungary, Poland, Italy and other countries, Mikayil Abdullayev painted Bengali Girls, Rajasthani Women, An Old Afghan, as well as portraits of Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl, Renato Guttuso, Giacomo Manzù, etc.

He also painted Azerbaijan's eminent cultural figures like Uzeyir Hajibeyov, Samad Vurgun, Mirza Fatali Akhundov and Farhad Badalbeyli.

Abdullayev's paintings were exhibited in cities such as Paris, London, Berlin, Montreal, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Warsaw, Delhi, Cairo, Brussels. Abdullayev was also the designer of artistic panel in the Nizami Metro Station.

Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev is the author of many works like the epic tragedy in the Azerbaijani language "The Breaking of Unity" (1896),plays like "The Unlucky Young Man" (1900) and "Nymph Magic" (1901), historical tragedy " Shah Qajar" (1907), etc. 

He was also known as one of the first editors of "Molla Nasreddin" weekly magazine.

Beginning in 1906 Hagverdiyev wrote for the satirical magazine. In 1908, he directed Uzeyir Hajibeyov's opera "Leyli and Majnun". 

Between 1911and 1916 he lived in Agdam having dedicated himself mostly to writing fiction.

In the next two years he lived and worked in Tbilisi as a reporter for the local Russian-language newspaper.

Hagverdiyev also translated some Russian writers as Gogol and Ostrovsky as well as European writers Shakespeare, Molière, Schiller and others into the Azerbaijani language.

The Azerbaijan State Television and Radio Broadcasting CJSC (AZTV) and the Turkish Sivas Cumhuriyet University have signed a protocol on cooperation, which also envisages filming a documentary in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Under the document, the experts of Sivas Cumhuriyet University will organize online trainings for students of the AZTV’s Teleradio Academy, journalists, as well as technical staff involved in the field of media in Azerbaijan.

The training scheduled for March 8-19, 2021, will be conducted by the Training Center of the Sivas Cumhuriyet University under the coordination of the university’s Journalism faculty.

The successful participants of the program will be awarded certificates.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture Anar Karimov has met with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as part of his official visit to the Republic of Turkey.

They hailed the brotherly relationship between the two countries, expressing confidence in its further development. They emphasized the importance of joint projects, noting that the reciprocal visits of delegations will give a new impetus to the expansion of the bilateral cooperation.

Opera singer, People's Artist Elchin Azizov will hold a master class in Moscow on March 6.

The event is open for students and graduates of specialized music educational institutions.

The master class will be held at music school founded by singer Emil Kadirov.

The music school gathers music experts who are passionate about their work.

Elchin Azizov has been a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater since 2008.

He has successfully performed in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta", Sergei  Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges", Georges Bizet's "Carmen", Giuseppe Verdi's  "Don Carlos" and so on.

Azizov is the winner of the 2nd Prize of the International Opera Singers Contest of Galina Vishnevskaya (2008), and the 4th Prize of the International Opera Singers Contest of Bulbul in Baku (2005).

People's Artist Fakhraddin Karimov will take part in Kharkiv Music Festival of Classical Music.

The chief conductor of the Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra will joint the music festival to be held on April 7-24 in Kharkov, Ukraine.

On April 7, musicians from 10 countries, including Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Estonia, Georgia, Slovakia, Poland and Germany will gather in the Big Hall of the Kharkiv Philharmonic to perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Miroslav Skorik.

KharkivMusicFest is an annual classical music festival presenting famous Ukrainian and international artists in the second largest city of Ukraine.

The festival strives to create opportunities to discover classical music for broad audiences by combining Azerbaijan Chamber Orchestra high-quality concerts with other events including lectures, master classes, showcases, conferences, presentations, discussions, community gatherings, among others.

This makes it unique on the map of music festivals of Eastern Europe.

The French news portal Musulmansenfrance.fr has published an article by researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Doctor of the Practical School of Higher Studies (EPHE), specialist in the history of texts and contemporary ideologies Karim Ifrak headlined “Azerbaijan, from “land of fire” to “land of tolerance”.

The article provides an insight into Azerbaijan’s history, its multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural values. “A multi-faith, multicultural and multi-ethnic country, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan has consistently praised, since its proclamation of independence in 1918, its centuries-old tradition of religious tolerance and social inclusiveness. That is why, firmly attached to these fine values, the present Republic of Azerbaijan is above all a space of tolerance, inclusiveness and pluralism,” the article says.

“Guarantor of sacrosanct religious tolerance, the Republic of Azerbaijan stimulates all types of actions aimed at developing the values of tolerance, inclusiveness and secularism. Also, with the support of the state, sometimes with that of President Ilham Aliyev in person, international events are regularly organized by Baku. A great opportunity to let the whole world know that the ancestral “land of fire” is above all an ancestral “land of tolerance”. This is particularly the case of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, on the program every two years, recognized by resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO as a key global platform for the promotion of intercultural dialogue. The case also of the “Baku Process”; this unique event which brings together, with a view to strengthening intercultural dialogue, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the member states of the Council of Europe. A long list of events to which you can add the World Summit of Religious Leaders, the Eurovision Song Contest or the World Forum of Open Societies,” the article mentions.

The article also hails the activity of the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism saying the Center whose mission is to preserve the cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the country makes Azerbaijan a showcase for multiculturalism internationally.

A delegation led by Azerbaijan`s Minister of Culture Anar Karimov has visited the Heydar Aliyev Park in Ankara.

He laid a wreath at a monument to the national leader in the park.

Rauf Hajiyev Music School  No. 15  will hold a virtual concert "Tragedy of the 20th century" on February 25.

The event is dedicated to the 29th anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, a largest massacre in the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The concert will feature works by Azerbaijani and foreign composers.

The event will be streamed on YouTube at 12:00.

On the night of February 26, 1992, Armenian armed forces, directly supported by the 366th regiment of the former USSR, stationed at that time in the town of Khankendi in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan attacked, from five directions, the town of Khojaly.

Some 613 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the massacre, and 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost one parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, and the fate of 150 of them remains unknown.