Int'l Children's Mugham Festival comes to end in Baku
By Amina Nazarli
The cradle of mugham – Azerbaijan – hosted the 7th International Children's Mugham Festival on October 22.
Supported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Youth and Sports Ministry and Kainat Youth Centre and PASHA Bank, the event took place at the Baku International Mugham Center.
Participants from Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey showcased their brilliant skills, mesmerizing the audience with the beautiful sounds of mugham.
Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Intigam Babayev highlighted the importance of the contest.
Kainat Youth Centre Director Rahib Rasulzade, for his part, said the contest would contribute to popularization of young mugham singers throughout the world.
The international judges and finalists appreciated the
performances of young mugham singers and announced the winners of
the festival.
Kanan Bayramli of Azerbaijan took the first place at the
competition. The second place went to Tolijoy Tokhtasunov and
Gulzoda Khusanboyeva from Uzbekistan. Asmaa Eldessouki from Egypt
and Artan Farbakhti from Iran placed third.
Mugham, a unique musical and poetic phenomenon, was created based on historical and cultural traditions that have existed for centuries in Azerbaijan. It is one of the most valuable monuments of the material and spiritual culture of Azerbaijan and the greatest achievement of the musical and poetic art of the Azerbaijani people.
The lyrical music of Mugham attracts the young and old with its delightful sounds. At present, this pearl of Azerbaijani music art continues to take new forms, attracting attention worldwide.
Those who did not grow up listening to Mugham, first-time listeners often describe it as evoking feelings of melancholy. Most of the Mugham compositions use minor scales, and all use unusual microtones that lend themselves at first to impressions of Mugham as melancholic music.
The artistic value of Azerbaijani Mugham and its importance both for national culture and to the world community has been universally recognized at the international level. In 2003, UNESCO recognized Azerbaijani Mugham as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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