By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The 8th Bulbul International Vocal Competition has come to an end, Azernews reports, citing Trend Life.

Around 100 vocalists from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Israel, Russia, and other countries took part in the competition timed to the 125th anniversary of the birth of the great singer Bulbul, the founder of Azerbaijan's professional vocal art.

The vocal contest brought together talented opera singers, graduates, and students of secondary and higher musical educational institutions.

The auditions took place at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall.

By decision of the professional jury, the Grand Prix was awarded to Elmina Hasanova (Azerbaijan).

The young talent is a graduate of the Baku Musical Academy's Solo Singing and Opera Training Department.

Her teachers are People's Artist of Azerbaijan Gulnaz Ismayilova and acclaimed opera soprano Tamar Iveri (Georgia).

At the music festival, she was accompanied by laureate of international competitions Maryam Yusifova.

Magnificent sounds of music filled the whole space. The fantastic duo left everyone speechless.

Ankhbayar Enkhbold (Mongolia) took first place at the 8th Bulbul International Vocal Competition. The second place went to Nikita Volkov (Russia) and Olga Rudik (Ukraine).

Baluan Berkenov (Kazakhstan), Alexandra Sokolova (Russia), and Hamid Abdulov (Azerbaijan) took third place in the vocal competition while Ezgi Karaya (Turkey) and Nigar Jafarova (Azerbaijan) ranked fourth.

Special prizes were awarded to Bat-Erdene Dorzhtseden (Mongolia) "For the best performance of works by Azerbaijani composer Bulbul's repertoire".

Medea Chikashvili (Georgia) won the "Hope Prize" while Valeria Latysheva (Russia) received the "Audience Award".

The awarding ceremony and gala concert will be held in Shusha on June 22.