The 3rd Republican Mugham Festival started in Baku

Inauguration and preliminary selection round of the 3^rd Republican Mugham Contest were held, February 11^th,  at the International Mugham Centre with support from the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and assistance by the Ministry of Education and the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan.

At the opening ceremony, information was given with regard to the results of the first phase of the Contest. It was informed that  those wishing to participate in the contest have sent their CVs and video recordings in  a DVD format to the organizers. 18 of the tape recordings were approved by the jury and allowed for the selection  round.

Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony, Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev and Minister of Education Misir Mardanov talked of the care the state showed towards development of the art of mugham, and the significance of such contests for the promotion of this unique music genre. From this standpoint, inclusion of the art of playing tar, one of our oldest music instruments, in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was emphasized, and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s contribution to promotion of mugham and our national music instruments in the world was given the highest value.

Then a sortition was held and the participants’ sequence of performance was known.

The distinguished feature of the 3^rd Republican Mugham Contest as compared to the previous ones is that in this contest, also selection among instrumental performers is held. 23 instrumental performers will participate in the selection rounds.

First selection round of the Contest will be held on February 11-12. Those who have passed this phase will participate in the second round to be held on February 13. 3 winners will be selected in the second round among both singers and instrumental performers. Names of winners will be announced at a Gala-concert to be held on February 15.

Winners of the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places will be awarded 5000, 3000 and 1000 Manats accordingly.

Winners will gain the right to participate in the “Mugham World” Third International Festival to be held in March, this year.

Singers are selected by a jury comprised of People’s artists Alibaba Mammadov, Aghakhan Abdullayev, Mansum Ibrahimov, Aygun Bayramova, Zabit Nabizadeh chaired by Rector of the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan, People’s Artist Sayavush Karimi.

Instrumental performers will be selected by People’s artists Mohlat Muslumov, Fakhraddin Dadashov and others.