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Selection of young singers for the 1st International Mugham Festival starts

05 March 2009 13:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova â€“ APA. The 1st Republic Mugham Competition of young mugham singers, who will participate in the 1st International Mugham Festival in Azerbaijan on the eve of Novruz, has started today, APA reports. Education Minister Misir Mardanov and Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev participated in the opening of the competition. Education Minister Misir Mardanov highly appreciated the 1st International Mugham Festival.
â€œAzerbaijan is preparing for the festival seriously. We have gathered here to select the young singers who will participate in this festival on behalf of Azerbaijan. The first stage of the competition starts today. Over 100 mugham singers applied for the competition and 27 of them were selected,â€ he said.
Mardanov expressed his gratitude to Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev for the projects implemented during his tenure.
â€œAbulfas Garayev fulfills his duty perfectly. He proves that he is the decent successor of the Garayevs,â€ he said.
Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev addressing the event stressed that organization of 1st International Mugham Festival in Azerbaijan was a productive project for the development of Azerbaijani national music. The Minister noted that the festival would be financed by Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Culture and Tourism Ministry, Union of Azerbaijani Composers, Foundation of Friends of Culture of Azerbaijan and will be held under title of â€œMugham Worldâ€ and would last till March 25.
The ceremony of casting lots has been held today. The ceremony was applicable for 27 singers, but three of them â€“ Abgul Mirzaliyev, Guldana Javadzadeh, Ravana Arabova have not participated. They were debarred from participation in the contest under the decision of jury. Four singers will have right to attend the festival at the end of the contest. The singers will be chosen by Peopleâ€™s Artists Alibaba Mammadov, Arif Babayev, Agakhan Abdullayev, Siyavush Karimi, Sakina Ismayilova, Mansum Ibrahimov, Ramiz Zohrabov and Ibrahim Guliev, representative of Friends of Azerbaijan Culture Foundation.