Belgian Embassy in Azerbaijan and Buta Arts Center to stage a charity concert in Baku

The Belgian Embassy in Azerbaijan and Buta Arts Center will stage their annual “Culture Helpline” Concert on Tuesday 19 July at the Jazz Center.  This year, they are proudly presenting Nezrine (Nezrin Efendiyeva), Belgian Azebaijani pianist and singer-songwriter.

This is the second charity concert organized jointly by the Belgian Embassy and Buta Arts Center. The first concert took place in 2010 and included performances by Christian Plouvier (flute), Murad Huseynov (piano), Javid Asadov (violin), Arslan Novrasli (tar),Togrul Asadullayev (kamancha), Abbas Safarov (nagara), Revan Gachayev and Mirpasha Shukurov (khanande).  

Born in Baku into a musical family, Nezrin was passionate about music and singing in particular from a very early age. Her grandfather was Fikret Amirov, the prominent Azerbaijani composer and the inventor of symphonic mugham, a completely new musical genre.

Her mother, Sevil Amirova, is a pianist and former professor at Baku’s state music academy. She went to a special school for music in Baku at the age of six and specialised in piano. In 1995, at the age of 16, she moved to Brussels, Belgium with her parents, and pursued her musical studies at the Brussels Royal conservatory of Music, where she graduated in 2001 with the First Prize and Superiour Prize in Piano.

In 2003, she was a prizewinner at the Huesca International Piano competition in Spain. Intrigued by different musical styles, she created "L'EstroBarocco", a baroque ensemble, where she played harpsichord. Around 2010, she radically changed her musical direction and started focusing on singing. She started writing her own songs resulting in a stunning cultural mix including influences from Chanson, oriental music as well as jazz and classical music. She now pursues the career of singer-songwriter in Belgium where she still lives and works with Belgian musicians. Although she mostly writes in French, she has also arranged some of her grandfather's Fikret Amirov's famous vocal works.

The concert programme will include jazz improvizations on Fikret Amirov’s music and her own songs.  Jamil Amirov, Famous Jazz musician and uncle of Nezrine will be playing in her band especially for this occasion. Nezrine draws inspiration from a wide variety of musical and poetic sources – from Tori Amos via Jean-Jacques Goldman to Mike Oldfield

All proceeds from the concert will be donated to Child Helpline Service Project that works with the children who are victims of violence, children who are in conflict with the law and children in need of urgent care and protection.

HE The Ambassador of Belgium, Mr. Luc Truyens: “ We are very happy to be able to organize 2 concerts with Nezrine.  One will be held on the occasion of our national day, the 21st of July, for the guests at our reception.  The second one, on the 19th is open to the general public.   Nezrine personifies a bridge between our 2 countries.  Born in Azerbaijan into a family of acclaimed musicians, she is now fully integrated into Belgian society and blends the music from both nations into her art.   In addition, this is the second time we work with Buta Arts Center for Child Helpline Services and we are very pleased with the professional cooperation with both organizations.“

Mr. Nasib Piriyev, General Director, BUTA Arts Center: “This is our third concert of the “Culture Helpline” series since last year, two of which were done in collaboration with Belgian Embassy. Buta Arts Center continuously develops new directions – from organization of festivals to film production.

Our team of experts includes professional experts in different areas with the long list of service records and also young and energetic talents.  Our center brought together those who care about the future, who put all their efforts to save and multiple the cultural values and heritage of every person and every nation. This makes us especially proud to be a part of this event.”


/Today.Az/