International World of Mugham Festival


The International World of Mugham Festival is an annual music festival of Azerbaijani mugham music.
The first festival was held on Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s initiative, on March 18–25, 2009, in Baku. Official opening ceremony of the festival was held on March 20, in International Mugham Center of Azerbaijan. International scientific symposium, international contest of mugham singers, multiple mugham operas, symphonic and classical mugham concerts were held during the festival. The festival was concluded by gala concert, which was held on March 25, 2009 in Heydar Aliyev Palace, in Baku.

International scientific symposium of mugham

International scientific symposium of mugham was held during the international festival and lasted for 3 days. Meetings of the symposium had been held in three sections, in the end of which was published a special book.
About 30 scientists, musicians, and also promoters of traditional eastern music from the USA, Great Britain, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, Hungary, China, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Tajikistan and other countries took part at the symposium.
Participants of the symposium were such ethnomusicologist scientists, as Steven Blum, Dieter Christensen, Wim van Zanten, Professor Jean During from France, Jurgen Elsner, Hiromi Lorraine Sakata, Inna Naroditskaya, Luis Duran and James Parkin, Bernard Kleikamp - chairman and the owner of “Pan Records” company, Professor Rovshan Yunusov from Uzbekistan, Professor of Moscow Conservatory Violetta Yunusova, Abduvali Abdurashidov-chairman of “Makoma Academy” in Dushanbe and others.
Presentations about musical cultures of Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan were sounded in the sections of the festival and the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh War was also raised there.

Program of the symposium

Organizers of the festival

President of the festival

– President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO

Organizers of the festival