Azerbaijan hosts the 6th International Mugham Festival

The 6th International Mugham Festival "World of Mugham" kicks off in Azerbaijan on June 18.

The VI International Mugham Festival "The World of Mugham", which will continue from June 18 to 25, has been organised by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture with support from the Ministry of Science and Education and the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Azertag reports.

Our country is represented at the festival by the winners of the National Mugham Contest held on Apri 24-27 [2003]. Various concerts will be organised in Baku, Aghjabadi and Shusha as part of the festival.

The music festival will start today at Heydar Aliyev Palace with a concert by People's Artist Alim Gasimov and at the National Conservatory with a concert by People's Artist Anvar Sadigov and Honoured Artist Emil Afrasiyab.

On June 19, the festival will continue at the International Mugham Centre, National Conservatory and Museum of Stone Annals with concerts by People's Artist Elchin Shirinov and a number of mugham singers from Azerbaijan, Daud Khan Sadozai from Afghanistan and Mahan Mirarab from Iran.

The World of Mugham Festival will continue on June 20 at the Chamber and Organ Music Hall, International Mugham Centre and National Conservatory with performances by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Sakina Ismailova, international prize-winner Etibar Asadli, Vasumathi Badrinathan from India and Kankou Kouyaten from Mali.

On the next festival day, June 21, the Jadenza Orchestra of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, pianist Tural Rafael, Majadi Nahhas from Jordan, Ilyos Arabov from Uzbekistan and Sardor Soliyev from Tajikistan will perform.

On June 22, the International Mugham Centre will host Mostfa Said from Egypt and the Asil Ensemble, while the National Conservatoire will play Firudin Hamidov from Azerbaijan and Varijashree Venugopal from India, and the En Chordais Ensemble at the Chamber and Organ Music Hall.

On June 24, the Heydar Aliyev Centre will host a concert by the Uzeyir Hajibeyli Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, People's Artist, mugham singer Teyub Aslanov and pianist Nijat Aslanov at the National Conservatory.
The festival will include a concert featuring mugham performers in the town of Agjabedi. Mugam and poetry performances will be performed at various venues in the city of Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan. An international mugham symposium is planned to be held during the festival, instrumental mughams will be performed in Icherisheher, a 24-hour mugham marathon will be performed by successive 24 groups in the same space, and an open-air mugham hour will be organised.

On the last day, June 25, the closing ceremony of the World of Mugham Festival will be held at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic, named after Muslim Magamayev. The winners of the international mugham contest held as part of the festival will be honoured with a concert here.

An international jury from Azerbaijan, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Türkiye will select the winners from the Hanende and instrumentalists.

In recent years fundamental work has been done in Azerbaijan to preserve and develop the art of mugham. As a result of the support and works performed by First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in connection with the art of mugham, Azerbaijani mugham was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

It is worth mentioning that national mugham contests and international mugham festivals have been organised since 2009 by the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by Mehriban Aliyeva. The projects are aimed at once more presenting and preserving the mugham, which is the national wealth of the Azerbaijani people, in the context of the world culture.