Turkey hosts Azerbaijani composer's concert

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

A concert, dedicated to Azerbaijani composer, Professor Firangiz Alizada was held in Adana, Turkey.

The event was devoted to the 23rd anniversary of Khojaly tragedy, which is a black page in the country’s history. In 1992, the town of Khojaly, the second largest town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, came under intense fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by the Armenian armed forces.

613 civilians mostly women and children were killed in the massacre, and a total of 1,000 people were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 25 children lost both parents, and 130 children lost at least one of their parent. Moreover, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage. Meanwhile, the fate of 150 people has remained unknown so far.

The concert, which was held under the theme“ A concert of Azerbaijan and Turkey Friendship” brought together many famous musicians.

The State Symphony Orchestra Chukurovi headed by national conductor Fahraddin Karimov created a wonderful evening for the guests.

Alizade’s compositions such as “Metamorphosis” as well as excerpts from “Intizar” opera were performed during the event. The compositions were performed by talented Gulnaz Ismailova, Sabina Asadova and Tolga Erden.

Earlier, the "In 27 Pieces – The Hilary Hahn Encores " album of American violinist Hilary Hahn, where Alizada’s composition “Impulse” was included won the Grammy award in the “Best execution chamber” nomination at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

“I feel myself amazing... But, I know that it is not the end, and much work should be done further,” said Alizada commenting her success.

The composer is going to record her own album, so that Hahn can perform all her compositions. They even came to an agreement on this issue. “Hahn said that the success of “Impulse” is so stunning that she plans to record an album containing only my compositions.”

Alizada is an Azerbaijani composer and pianist, currently living in Germany. She is best known for her works which combine the musical tradition of the Azerbaijani Mugam and 20th century Western compositional techniques, especially those of Arnold Schonberg and Gara Garayev.

Her works have been performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet. On June 20, 2007, Alizadeh was elected as chair of the Azerbaijani Composers' Union.

In 2008 UNESCO titled the honored artist with "UNESCO Artist for Peace."