National vocalist wins int'l music contest in Ukraine

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's young vocalist Urfan Jafarov has won the 4th International Competition of Vocalists in Memory of Muslim Magomayev.

Urfan Jafarov was awarded the 1st degree laureate diploma of the competition. He also received a certificate for holding a solo concert in the Carnegie Hall in New York.

For the fourth year, the best vocalists from various countries come to Ukraine's Truskavets to take part in the competition in memory of the legendary singer and composer, People's Artist of the USSR Muslim Magomayev.

Only professional singers and singers aged 16 to 40 with a special musical education and students of music universities and colleges can take part in the vocal competition.

All participants passed the preliminary blind selection by audio. The singers with the highest number of points are invited to the final selection in Truskavets.

As part of the contest, vocalists performed opera arias and songs from the repertoire of Muslim Magomayev.

The uniqueness of the competition is to identify and open to the world vocalists who are equally skillful in singing both opera and pop music.

In 2021, some 18 vocalists reached the final of the competition. Urfan Jafarov captivated the hearts of jury member with his beautiful voice and received the highest score.

This year, the jury  included the soloist of the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, People's Artist  Gulnaz Ismayilova.

Urfan Jafarov  took  part in the competition with the support of the Baku City Main Department of Culture.

At the competition, Urfan Jafarov was accompanied by pianist, Honored Artist Nigar Melikova, who received the diploma of the "Best accompanist".

Note that Urfan Jafarov is a laureate of republican and international competitions, a graduate of the Baku Music Academy. Jafarov  is the soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

His teacher is opera singer, People's Artist Khuraman Kasimova, who worked with many young talents.

Khuraman Kasimova could have been a member of the jury of this competition, but for greater objectivity in assessing the performance of her student, she decided to refuse.

Despite the fact that Urfan Jafarov was already in Ukraine, Khuraman Kasimova continued to monitor the preparation process, She carefully selected the program, the order of performance of musical compositions, and gave valuable advice on vocal technique. As a result,  Urfan Jafarov did not disappoint the mentor, he returned to his homeland with a great victory.