By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The second “Music of Peace and Kindness” ethno-cultural festival has been held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The event was organized by the National Cultural Autonomy of St. Petersburg Azerbaijanis together with the Council of Nationalities Interregional Public Organization.

Performances of Azerbaijani creative groups and performers from Russia and Azerbaijan were held within the concert program.

Azerbaijani opera singer Nariman Aliyev, Azerbaijani pop stars, finalist of the third season of The Voice show Azer Nasibov, Eurovision participant Chingiz Mustafayev, the popular Natig Rhythm Group, Honored Artist of Russia Tatyana Bulanova and other artists performed for the audience.

The performers presented songs about love, friendship, and St. Petersburg in different languages.

Acting Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov welcomed the guests of the event. He emphasized that St. Petersburg, where representatives of 130 nationalities live, has always been an example of friendship of cultures and religions.

“There is no development of the city if there are no nationalities. Thank you very much for preserving your culture, language, customs – by this you make the city even stronger,” Beglov said.

The rich musical heritage created since ancient times is unchallengeable proof of a genetic talent that is inherent in every generation of the Azerbaijani nation.

Country’s national musical instruments, designed for the emotional color, rhythm, tempo and artistic features of Azerbaijani folk music, have passed a long path of historic development and carried many characteristic features of Azerbaijani traditional music until the present.

Natig Shirinov is a world-famous Azerbaijani percussionist and leader of the Natig Rhythm Group. He is frequently recognized as the greatest nagara player from the Caucasus.

He revolutionized nagara percussion technique by experimenting with measures and hand drumming styles. He is also notorious for being Azerbaijan's first rhythm composer. Natig Shirinov is recognized by many people as one of the greatest nagara players of our times. His numerous contributions to the Azerbaijani music scene have gained him a place among a very selective group of artists known to have set new musical trends for the 21st century.

The Natig Rhythm Group members are Namig Shirinov, Umid Shirinov, Hikmet Makhmudov, Elbey Isganderov, Timur Jabrayilov, Farid Vazirov, Magsad Azizov, Bayram Uzeyirov, Anar Abbasov and Samir Aliyev.