GABALA, Azerbaijan: The Opening Ceremony of the 11th Gabala International Music Festival was held on Friday in Gabala, a City in northern Azerbaijan, sai a report by AZERTAC.
The festival is being organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Gilan Holding.
The Gabala International Music Festival is an annual open-air festival of classical music held every summer beginning from 2009. Prominent musicians from different Countries, world-renowned symphonic and philharmonic orchestras usually perform in the festival.
In the Opening Ceremony of 11th Gabala International Music Festival held at the Gabala Culture Centre, greeting messages the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO goodwill ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva to the festival participants were read out.
While addressing the ceremony, the Chairman of Azerbaijan Council of Elders MP Fattah Heydarov highlighted the importance of the event. He said that this music festival is of great importance not only in terms of establishing cultural ties but also building friendship and fraternity among peoples, as well as high-level cultural interactions among nations.
The Rector of Baku Music Academy named after Uzeyir Hajibayli, artistic director of Gabala International Music Festival, Peoples’ Artist Farhad Badalbayli emphasized that this year’s festival coincides with the 650th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Imadaddin Nasimi. He described this anniversary as a milestone event in the cultural life of Azerbaijan.
The Opening Ceremony then featured performance of the Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Conducted by Honored Artist Fakhraddin Karimov, the concert saw performance by musicians of Azerbaijan Ulviyya Hajibeyova (piano) and Yegana Akhundova (piano), which drew waves of applause from the audience.
