“1st Baku Contemporary Music Days“
Festival for New Music
21–25 of May 2023
The festival runs from May 21 to May 25 and its participants are both local (Cadenza Orchestra) and invited musicians from Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, France, Russia, and Kazakhstan: Avital Cohen (flute), Daniel Weissberg (composition), Szilard Benes (clarinet), Gleb Khokhlov (violin), Alexander Khubeev (composition), Yulia Migunova (cello), Fidan Aghayeva-Edler (piano) and Andrey Jurgenson (clarinet).
The festival program consists of three sections – morning, afternoon, and evening. At 12:00, the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts hosts master classes, workshops, and lectures for professional musicians and those interested in new music. At 16:00 in the International Mugham Center and the Museum of Musical Culture, daytime concerts are played, united by the name "Portraits" (solo and duet programs of invited musicians with complete freedom to choose their own program). The festival days end with evening concerts at 19:00 at the International Mugham Center and the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic. See the venue of each event on the official website or social networks (links below).
The evening program will feature Azerbaijani premieres of works such as String Quartet No. 2 by G. F. Haas (May 21; violin – Umid Mustafazade, Fatima Nasirli, viola – Uzeyr Mahmudbeyli, cello – Erol Rzayev), "Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety" by M. Feldman (May 22; Cadenza Orchestra Soloists Chamber Ensemble), "Kontakte" by K. Stockhausen (May 23; piano – Rena Fakhradova, percussion – Kamil Huseynzade), D. Ligeti Piano Concerto (May 24; Cadenza Orchestra, piano – Fidan Agayeva-Edler, conductor – Orkhan Hashimov), etc. On the penultimate day of the festival will take place the world premiere of I. Hajibeyov's "Capriccio" (1949-2006) – this is an unfinished composition by the author, completed by composer R. Khalilov in 2008 (May 24; Cadenza Orchestra, fortepiano – Zakir Asadov, conductor – Orkhan Hashimov).
Among the compositions of the daytime and evening program, there are also Azerbaijani and world premieres by composers such as G. Scelsi, P. Dusapin, H. Holliger, J. Cage, S. Gani, T. Ibishov, A. Sysoev, T. Gasimzada, D. Weissberg, A. Gambarli, etc.
"1st Baku Contemporary Music Days" is the first festival of new music in Azerbaijan with such an extensive educational program:
May 21 (Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts): workshop “Modern piano playing techniques” (F. Agaeva-Edler), lecture “Timbre and form in contemporary music“ (A. Jurgenssohn);
May 22 (in the same place): lecture “The role of the performer in contemporary music” (Yu. Migunova), masterclass on modern violin playing techniques (G. Khokhlov);
May 23 (in the same place): lecture "Participatory Composition" (D. Weissberg), concert & master class on modern flute playing techniques (A. Cohen);
May 24 (in the same place): masterclass for composers (A. Hubeev), workshop “Clarinet Extended Techniques: types of multiphonics, possibilities of microtonality” (S. Benes);
May 25 (in the same place.): seminar to discuss the place of the Azerbaijani school of composition in the world context (word – Elmir Mirzoev, composer), the position of Azerbaijani culture at the intersection of West and East (word – Gultakin Shamilli, musicologist), as well as the state of music criticism today (word – Vafa Abbasova, musicologist; moderator – Zumrud Dadashzade, musicologist).
The festival will end with the screening of the film "Ligeti: Portrait" (19:00, Nizami Cinema Center). Subtitles in Azerbaijani were made especially for the festival. Entrance by pre-registration via the link (the number of seats is limited).
After the film is planned a discussion on the results of the festival.
The festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
More detailed information about the festival can be found on the official website, as well as on social networks (Facebook, Instagram).