Azerbaijani ganun soloist wins first place in int'l competition

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

Natavan Hasanova, a popular soloist in the national instruments orchestra of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society who performs on the musical instrument “ganun,” won the first place in the professional musicians category at the "American Protégé International Concerto Competition 2015" international competition and was awarded the"Best Performance Award."

The competition was attended by musicians from all around the world. To pass the first round, contestants recorded their best 35-minute performances and sent it to be viewed by a panel of judges; Natavan’s video earned first place among them.

Natavan performed with Haji Khanmammadov’s “Concerto for Kamancha and Symphonic Orchestra” and Nazim Aliverdibekov’s “Elegy” and continued it with Isak Albenis’s “Astoria.”

The audience was thrilled as they witnessed our national musical instrument, the ganun, for the first time being used at the competition.

The jury included such world-renowned artists as Irina Kaufman Brooks who evaluated the performance.

Natavan Hasanova expressed gratitude to the rector of the National Conservatory, Siyavush Karimi, and the director of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall Murad Adigozalzadeh.

The artist graduated from music school with knowledge in piano and ganun, but continued to further her education with ganun classes. She says than it is appears to be very useful when you can play several musical instruments; it helps to bring some changes to the performance.

Natavan earned both her Bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the conservatory, both with a “red diploma.” During those 10 years, she has been teaching. Her students won seven first place, three second place, and four diplomas in international competitions, one grand prix and one place in an international competition.

“You need talent and a lot of patience if you wish to be a musician; in this case nothing can stop you,” she says.

Natavan plays several compositions from various composers. She especially loves Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody, Agshin Alizade “Jangi,” Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers from the ballet The Nutcracker and many others.

The artist has many future plans dedicated to music and her students.