Gabala holds competition of young pianists

/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

The International Competition of Young Pianists kicked off as part of the 8th International Music Festival on August 2, which runs in the beautiful corner of Azerbaijan -- Gabala.

The two-round competition will see participation of young talented pianists from Azerbaijan and Russia. Chaired by Oksana Yablonskaya, the jury panel includes Farhad Badalbayli, Murad Adigozalzade, Irina Starodub, Valida Suk and Maryam Maleki.

The first, second and third place holders will be awarded a money prize of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

Till August 5, the festival will be attended by prominent musicians, art ensembles, soloists and conductors from Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.S., Italy, France, Spain, Israel, Lithuania and Cuba.

The performance of "Kyiv virtuosos" will be held on August 3-4. On August 3 orchestra will be led by the chief conductor Dmitry Yablonsky and Emil Tabakov, and on August 4 by Israeli composer, conductor and pianist Gil Shohat.

The bright music program with participation of  Javid Samadov (baritone), Murad Adigozalzadeh, Nargiz Orujlu (both play the piano), Umila Abbasova (violin), Arkady Shilkloper (alphorn) will take place on August 4.

On August 5 - the final day of the festival - the evening of piano music will take place. The festival will be finalized with the concert of "Kyiv virtuosos" orchestra.

The festival, held since 2009 on the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, draws attention with the expanding audience and participants year by year. The program of the current festival is as rich as in previous years.