NEWS

World-famous pianist and composer Isfar Sarabski has presented his new album in Baku. The album presentation took place at "Jazz on the Top" in Landmark.

The music album "Planet" was recorded in collaboration with Warner Music Group. It was released on International Jazz Day, which is celebrated on April 30.

As the musician says, the music album fully reflects his feelings and world view. The musician pays special attention to the major events that have affected humanity over the past years. Through his music, Isfar Sarabski engages in dialogue with listeners.

The album "Planet" includes works performed at concerts and renewed music pieces.

"So, one of the compositions included in the album was written about two years ago, but we recorded it only last year. My concerts feature all music pieces included in the album.

The album "Planet" was originally an electro album. But it gradually turned into an acoustic album.Furthermore, music pieces included in the album were performed with an orchestra.

Isfar Sarabski signed a contract with Warner Music Group for the release of two albums in 2019. He became the first Azerbaijani jazz musician to join Warner Music Group.

In 2019, the musician released the music piece "Horses of Karabakh", recorded in partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG).

The final decision was made after the musician's performance at the Jazzahead festival held in Germany.

"For me, as an artist, this is a big step forward in terms of the fact that now my music sounds all over the world and is well promoted. The contract with Warner Music Group provides for the release of another album, but it will be in a different musical genre- electronic music", said Isfar.

In July, Isfar Sarabski will present the album at Montreux Jazz Festival on July 11. The jazz festival will take place in Switzerland on July 2-17.

Founded in 1967, Montreux Jazz Festival is the second largest annual jazz festival in the world after Canada's Montreal International Jazz Festival.

In the 1970s, the festival began broadening its scope, including blues, soul, and rock artists, for instance Marianne Faithfull, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Canned Heat and many others.

Notably, Isfar Sarabski is  the winner of the pianists' competition at Montreux Jazz Festival 2009.

The Planet tour will kick off in October 2021 and run through mid-November. Within its framework, concerts are planned in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Czech Republic. It is possible that the tour will include other countries, and it will last until early December.

"We are also planning a concert in Baku. But now everything depends on the situation with the pandemic. At the moment, large concert venues are not available," the pianist stressed.

Although the album was only released in April, it has already received positive reviews from influential music critics.

BBC Music Magazine included the album of the Azerbaijani musician in the list of the best jazz albums of 2021. The music album was also highly appreciated in German and French media.

The album cover was designed by a German company.

"The design was a mutual decision, I had the idea to show the connection between classical and jazz music. The company representatives got acquainted with Azerbaijani culture. As you can see, the album cover displays shebeke art (stained glass)," the musician said.

Isfar Rzayev, better known as Isfar Sarabski, is the great-grandson of opera singer Huseyngulu Sarabski. His musical talent manifested itself at an early age.

Musician began playing the piano at the age of seven. Sarabski studied classic piano for eleven years at the Bulbul Music School. After that, he continued his education at the Baku Music Academy.

He completed his studies at the Academy in 2011, graduating as a classical concert pianist. In the same year the pianist received a scholarship from the Berklee Music College, Boston, and the U.S.

After that, the musician formed the Isfar Sarabski Trio with Moscow-based musicians Alexander Mashin (drums) and Makar Novikov (bass). The trio has performed in many festivals and concert venues across North America and Europe.

Azerbaijan's young virtuoso has performed in the most prestigious concert halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Miles Davis Hall, the Vibrato Jazz Club, Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's, the Zinco Jazz Club, the Konzerthaus, Asphalt Jazz Club, Duc des Lombards Jazz Club, Porgy & Bess Jazz Club, Bird’s Eye Jazz Club and the Apollo Theater.

The Culture Ministry has awarded the winners of patriotic literary contest. The awarding ceremony took place at the International Mugham Center.

A minute of silence was observed to pay tribute to the martyrs of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

In his speech, the Culture Minister Anar Karimov stressed that the restoration and construction works are currently underway on the territories liberated from Armenian occupation.

The Culture Ministry is carrying out work on returning Azerbaijani culture to these lands.

Anar Karimov praised the courage of the Azerbaijani Army who liberated Azerbaijani lands after almost 30 years of Armenian occupation.

In their speeches, members of the competition commission, Honored Art worker, secretary of the Azerbaijan Writers' Union Rashad Majid and head of the Kids Literature Department at the Institute of Literature Elnara Akimova stressed the importance of the literary project.

Nearly 321 works have been sent to the competition. Only 53 of them have not accepted as they did not meet the contest rules.

Around 268 literary works admitted to the competition, including  67 essays, 75 stories and 126 poems.

The competition was held in three categories for professional writers, amateur authors and the 10-15 years old kids.

The competition brought together writers from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia and Iran. All submitted works and information about their authors were unknown for jury members. 

The works submitted for the contest were evaluated from a thematic, artistic and professional point of view.

Ramil Ahmad, Mina Rashid, Jalil Javanshir were awarded for the best essays in the category "Professionals"  The stories written by Farhad Karimli, Sevinj Nurugizi, Tavakgul Boysunar were also named best as part of the contest. 

Muzaffar Muzaffarli, Elgiz Abbasov and Fidan Gozyalova were awarded for the best essays in the category "Amateur". Tural Azimzade, Gulmira Mammadova and Shabnam Turbanzadeh were awarded for the best stories, while the poems by Yusif Arabsoy, Mulain Gummatova and Gabil Aliyev were named best at the literary contest.

The 10-15 years old project participants were awarded as well, including  Dilbar Rafi Alpaslan Jahangir,  Ismail Gululu, Zahra Rzayeva (essay), Abdullah Huseynli, Momunakhatun Mammadova, Aysu Alisoy, Omar Mammadzadeh, Sema Guliyeva (story), Ayan Elyarli,Nazrin Jalilova,Sadig Gazanfarli, Eva Farajova, Sevidnik Aliyeva (poetry). 

Azerbaijan has been successfully represented at the 45th Annecy International Animation Film Festival, known as the world's oldest and largest film festival dedicated entirely to animation.

The large-scale festival  took place in Annecy, France on October 14-19.

Azerbaijan was represented by the director of ANIMAFILM Festival Rashid Aghamaliyev as well as the winner of the third ANIMAFILM Festival Fidan Akhundova and director Durna Safarova.

The trip to France and MIFA accreditation was offered to Fidan Akhundova by the French Institute in Azerbaidjan (IFA), the French Embassy in Azerbaijan and Annecy International Animation Film Festival as the award for "Best Azerbaijani Short Animated Film" of last year's ANIMAFILM Festival.

"This is a historical moment. It's the first time that an Azerbaijani animated film participates in the competition program of Annecy Festival. "The Enigma of Faina" directed by Durna Safarova participated in the "Perspectives" category. Along with that, our ANIMAFILM Festival was represented at Annecy's MIFA market for the second time. Currently we are preparing interesting animation programs that will involve Azerbaijan and France. We will make an announcement very soon," said Rashid Aghamaliyev.

Meanwhile, ANIMAFILM offers an award in the category "Best Azerbaijani Short Animated Film" in partnership with the French Embassy in Azerbaijan, ​​the French Institute in Azerbaijan (IFA) and with the support of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

This year's winner  will have a chance to attend the 2022 Annecy Festival in France and receive professional MIFA accreditation. Trip to Annecy, France (flights and accommodation) for the winner will be offered by IFA.

The fourth ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival will be held in Baku on October 20-24, 2021.

The five-day festival will feature dozens of foreign and local animated films for kids and adults. The theme of this year's festival is "DISABILITY".

Founded in 2018, ANIMAFILM  is the first and only international animation festival in Azerbaijan.

The festival focuses on bringing together local and foreign audiences as well as professionals on a single platform. It also contributes to the training of young talents and actively promotes and develops the art of animation in Azerbaijan.

President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu have met on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

During the meeting, Gunay Afandieva expressed gratitude to the Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu for the invitation to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and noted that Turkey was the first country to organize a meeting of world leaders, politicians and diplomats after a long break.

Drawing attention to the existing close cooperation between the founding country of the Foundation - Turkey and the organization, Gunay Afandiyeva stressed that in the future the Foundation will continue to carry out activities in the direction of promoting the culture, customs and traditions of Turkey, which is an integral part of the Turkic world and other Turkic-speaking countries. Expressing, as the head of the Turkic International Organization, pride in Turkey's fair position in the liberation of the ancestral lands of Azerbaijan, Gunay Afandiyeva said that the Foundation plans to implement various projects related to Karabakh, one of the brightest cultural centers of the Turkic world.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu congratulated President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva with her speech at the panel conference on the topic "Women's Contribution to the Search for peace", held as part of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. The Minister noted that he closely followed the work done by the Foundation and highly appreciated the activities of the organization in the direction of rapprochement of the Turkic-speaking peoples. He also emphasized that he would assist in supporting projects and events organized by the Foundation in order to protect the material and cultural heritage of the Turkic world, as well as promote it in the international arena and pass on to the younger generation.

Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed at the meeting.

President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva has participated in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Gunay Afandiyeva attended the panel conference "Women's Contribution to the Search for Peace”, held on the sidelines of the Forum.

Along with Gunay Afandiyeva, speakers in the Forum included governor of Moldova’s Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia Irina Vlah, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Japarova, representative of the Diyarbakir Mothers organization Aishegul Bicher.

In her speech, president of the Foundation stressed that the organization of such forums and conferences is very important for attracting international attention to global issues as peace and trust in the world, and thanked the organizers of the event. Noting that holding such meetings was impossible for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Afandiyeva assessed the organization of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum as one of the next successes of fraternal Turkey.

President of the Foundation stressed that since ancient times, women have been considered a symbol of peace and harmony, keepers of the hearth.

Gunay Afandiyeva added that the topic of gender equality, which remains relevant today, has been present in the Turkic traditions and Turkic-Islamic culture for a long time. Citing an example from the epic "Dede Korkut", she emphasized that since ancient times it embodied the image of a heroic woman of the Turkic world. In her speech, president of the Foundation said that over the entire period of the rich history of the Turkic peoples, women have always shown special intelligence and skill in diplomatic matters. Noting that Sarah Khatun, the mother of the ruler of Akkoyunlu Uzun Hasan, is considered the first woman diplomat in the Eastern world, as well as a woman who for many years, through wise diplomacy and peace was able to resolve disputes between the Ottoman sultan Fatih Mehmet II and Uzun Hasan.

Gunay Afandiyeva emphasized that the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva is a vivid example of a woman of the Turkic world in the modern world and spoke about her merits. She also noted that the projects implemented on the initiative and under the leadership of Mehriban Aliyeva have gained great prestige both within the country and in the international arena.

Speaking about the activities of the organization she heads, Gunay Afandiyeva said that the Foundation also implements activities in the field of culture, science and social development of women, as well as their education and identification of creative potential. She noted that in this direction, under the project "Poetesses of the Turkic World", the Foundation published the book “Anthology of Poetry by Women in Azerbaijan” in various foreign languages.

Gunay Afandiyeva stressed that the expansion of the role of women in society at the national, regional and global levels will increase the importance of universal values. She noted that the heavy burden of global terrorism, ethnic conflicts, civil wars and economic crises primarily falls on the shoulders of women and children.

She said that during the 44-day fair struggle for the liberation of the historical and ancient lands of Azerbaijan - Karabakh and the surrounding areas, as a result of provocative terrorist acts committed by Armenia in the Azerbaijani territories located many miles from the war zone, hundreds of innocent people were killed, settlements, cultural and religious monuments were destroyed.

President of the Foundation stressed the importance of intensifying international efforts to prevent such tragedies, paying special attention to the role of women in this context and their direct participation in peacekeeping processes.

Addressing young people, she touched upon the significance of their education, as well as familiarization with the national and world culture.

President of the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation Gunay Afandiyeva has participated in virtual conference "Let the Khan's voice sounds from Shusha to the Eastern world".

The conference was timed to the 120th anniversary of the outstanding representative of Azerbaijani music art, great singer Khan Shushinski.

The event was co-organized by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry, Parliamentary Culture Committee, TURKSOY and the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. The event was attended by heads of Turkic-speaking international organizations, deputies, cultural and art personalities.

Speaking at the conference, Gunay Afandiyeva stressed that that when you say "Khan Shushinski", one recalls an integral part of Azerbaijan's native Karabakh, beautiful Shusha, known for its rich cultural heritage and prominent figures, who left indelible traces in the country`s history.

Noting that Khan Shushinski was one of the masters who raised Azerbaijani mugham to the highest level, the president of the Foundation said that the singer further developed the musical traditions received from other prominent singers – khanendes Jabbar Qaryaghdi and Seyid Shushinski and passed them on to new generations.

Gunay Afandiyeva noted that the words "Let the Khan's voice be heard, the Karabakh shikestesi" from Samad Vurgun's poem "Azerbaijan" were not written by chance, and assessed it as a manifestation of the value given to the work of Khan Shushinski by famous Azerbaijani masters.

She called the song "Shusha's mountains are foggy" one of his most remarkable works.

Afandiyeva stressed that from this point of view this victory is a triumph of Azerbaijani mugham, art and culture.

The President of the Foundation said that organization that she heads always ready to promote the rich cultural heritage of Azerbaijan and the Turkic world as a whole.

The conference continued with an exchange of views on the life and work of Khan Shushinski.

International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation focuses on the preservation of Turkic heritage in member countries as well as conducting projects in collaboration with partners in third countries.

The organization provides assistance in the protection, study and promotion of Turkic culture and heritage through supporting and funding various activities, projects and programs. It carries out its activities in cooperation with TURKSOY and the Turkic Academy.

In 2019, at the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (Turkic Council), Uzbekistan became a member of the organization, and Hungary received the status of an observer country.

In February 2021, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation and the Lithuanian embassy in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan Composers' Union has hosted a scientific musicological conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the outstanding composer, conductor and choirmaster Jahangir Jahangirov.

Jahangir Jahangirov's creative activity were highlighted at the conference organized by the Musicology and Music Department under the leadership of Honored Art Worker, professor Zemfira Gafarova.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Composers' Union, People's Artist Frangiz Alizadeh spoke about Jahangir Jahangirov's contribution to the history of national musical art.

Jahangir Jahangirov is the author of a lot of famous musical compositions. Across the River Aras (1949) vocal-symphonic poem, A Song about Friendship (1956), Fuzuli (1959), Nasimi (1973) suites, Sabir (1962), Huseyn Javid-59 (1984), Great Victory (1985) (dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the victory in Great Patriotic War) oratorios, Azad (1957), Khananda’s Fortune (1978) operas are among them. Besides that, the composer composed music for films Indomitable Kura, Koroglu, and Unsubdued Battalion. 

Furthermore, Honored Cultural Worker,  Doctor of Philosophy in Art Criticism Ulker Talibzade presented report on "The connection between poetry and music in the chamber-vocal creativity of Jahangir Jahangirov".

Honored Cultural Worker, Doctor of Philosophy in Art Criticism Seadet Tahmirazgizi discussed the role of Jahangir Jahangirov in the activities of choirs in Azerbaijan, while musicologist Aysel Karim presented report on the composer's choral legacy  on the example of the Fuzuli Cantata.

Leyla Guliyeva, Ph.D. in Art History, stressed importance of the composer's opera works in Azerbaijan's music history.

Khabiba Mamedova, Ph.D. in Art History pointed out on the revolutionary theme in the composer's operas.

Next, young composer Vugar Mammadzade was awarded with a medal. The young composer volunteered for the front of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Azerbaijan Composers' Union was founded with the assistance of Uzeyir Hajibeyli on June 30, 1934, as a department of the USSR Composers Union. The founding assembly was attended by 17 composers from the USSR countries, including three Azerbaijani composers - Afrasiyab Badalbayli, Zulfugar Hajibeyov and Niyazi. The current chairman of the Union is People’s Artist Frangiz Alizade.

In 2019, Azerbaijan Composers' Union celebrated its 85th anniversary. As part of the festival, a series of marvelous concerts were solemnly held in the Philharmonic Hall, Azerbaijani Composers' Union, Baku Music Academy, the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater and the Rashid Behbudov State Song Theater. The festival's closing ceremony took place in Heydar Aliyev Palace.

Along with concert programs, a scientific conference titled "Achievements of Azerbaijani musical culture in recent years and prospects" was also held as part of the festival.

Doklad iSchool has hosted the second course of online training for beginner filmmakers as part of  DokuBaku Festival.

The course was organized with the partnership support of Goethe-Institute Baku, the Pitch the Doc web platform, an international co-production platform high-quality documentary projects "Sunny Side of the Doc" and CinéDOC-Tbilisi Festival.

Documentary filmmakers and producers Mariam Chachia and Nick Voight were invited as mentors.

As part of the course, students got acquainted with all the stages of creating documentary films - from searching for a topic and writing a script to defending at a pitching and promoting a project.

In total, six students were enrolled in the course, including Anar Salakhov, Aynur Kazimova, Natig Askar and Zeynab Iskender who successfully presented their projects. They were awarded with the diplomas and a small cash prize for filmmaking.

The DokuBaku Festival and the online educational course based on it have proven that the project  can easily adapt, moving from a classical learning mode to an online platform.

The creators of the project have shown extraordinary flexibility and the ability to quickly navigate the current situation, which has become a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview, Doklad iSchool Director and Co-Founder and Director of DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival Imam Hasanov said that the documentary films are not popular in Azerbaijan.

"Documentary is not a popular film in Azerbaijan. Most of the documentaries filmed in our country were made according to a model that does not withstand the modern requirements of cinematography. Thanks to the joint efforts of the project organizers, more people show their interest in documentary films year by year. The growing number of the festival participants and film viewers  as well as students of the documentary film course also prove that. Doklad iSchool can truly be considered DokuBaku's first big victory," he said. 

Doklad iSchool is the first and only Azerbaijan's international project, operating since 2020.

The main goal of the course is to educate a new generation of filmmakers who have their own independent view of things. The project also focuses on highlighting  those issues that are not usually covered in society.

The course offers an introduction to documentary cinema with weekly film presentations and screenings followed by group discussions. This is a great opportunity to explore the genre in greater depth by watching a carefully selected cross section of documentary films. 

During the course, documentary directors are learning about various schools of documentary cinema and have the opportunity to discover different styles of the genre in weekly screening sessions run by professional documentary filmmakers.

National History Museum director Naili Velikhanli has met with the South Korean Ambassador to Azerbaijan Kim Tong Op.

The sides discussed the ties between the two countries in the field of culture and science.

The meeting was also attended by director of Research Fund  Affair and head custodian, Doctor of Philosophy in History Makhfuza Zeynalova, Scientific Secretary, Doctor of Philosophy in History, Associate Professor Farhad Jabbarov, Head of the Museum's International Relations Department Emin Dadashev and others.

At the meeting, Naila Velikhanli spoke about the museum's activities. She stressed that the History Museum successfully cooperates with international museums. Naila Velikhanli expressed her readiness to expand cooperation with the the Republic of Korea in science and culture.

Mr. Kim Tong Op noted the growing number of the Azerbaijani students in Korea as well as the interest shown to the Korean language and culture.

The Ambassador said that a working group will be created to expand cultural and scientific ties between South Korea and Azerbaijan. 

During the meeting, Kim Tong Op viewed the museum exhibitions. The Ambassador was presented with printed publications dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the museum.

The National Museum of History is one of the architectural pearls of the country, dating back to the 19th century.

The largest museum in the country was originally the private residence of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who was the famous national oil baron remembered for his generous philanthropy.

Over 300,000 items are assembled in 10 collections in the museum, including a valuable library consisting mainly of unique books.

There are several departments in the museum: Modern history, Ethnography department, Department of ancient and medieval history, Scientific excursion department, Laboratory for museum restoration, Fund of Numismatics, etc.

The museum's collections provide insight into the history of Azerbaijan from past to present.

House museum of Azerbaijan’s philanthropist, oil baron Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev was re-opened last June  after restoration and reconstruction work.

The museum's opening was in line with the 100th anniversary of the National History Museum of Azerbaijan.

Additionally, the museum displayed new exhibits, stored in its fund, including paintings, documents, photographs, orders and books.

Azerbaijani singer Jony (Jahid Huseynli) will perform at the Scarlet Sails graduates' holiday on June 25.

The celebration  is the most massive and famous public event during the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.

The tradition began in 1968, when several Leningrad schools united to celebrate the end of the school year in connection with the symbolism of the popular 1922 children's book Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin.

During the first celebration, a brigantine with scarlet sails sailed along the English Embankment and the Admiralty Embankment towards the Winter Palace. The 1961 release of the film Scarlet Sails boosted the popularity both of the book and of the tradition.

As a symbol of fulfilling child's dream to be adult and free from "schools and rules" the brigantine with scarlet sails turned to be an emblem of transition to a new wishfully beautiful adult life upon school-graduation.

The tradition interrupted in later Soviet period, but was again reborn since 2005.

In 2021, the event will be held in compliance with all  safety measures amid coronavirus pandemic.

Jony is a Moscow-based performer born in Baku. He became famous in Russia and the CIS countries after the mega-hit "Alley".

In December 2019, he became the winner in the Breakthrough of the Year nomination according to VKontakte and the BOOM music service. In 2020,  Apple Music named his track "Comet" among the popular songs in Russia.

Over the past years, the singer has taken part in multiple music projects, including the Zhara Music Festival.

Jahid Huseynli has recently been named best at the Bravo International Professional Music Awards. His song "Comet" was named "Song of the Year" according to the Bravo Awards.

He also won a prize (Best Artist Award) at New Radio Awards 2021, which brought together Azerbaijani and Russian pop stars.

In June, the singer has been named best in "Best Song" category at  "MUZ-TV 20/21. World Beginning". He won the prize for the song "Comet".

Notably, Jony was nominated in four categories "Best Singer", "Best Male Video", "Best Song" for the song "Comete". The duet song with Emin "Fireplace" was presented in the nomination "Best Collaboration"