― 16 августа 2017 г.
Mustafa Mehmandarov: "The Youth Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY contributes to the Rapprochement of Turkic Peoples"
The Youth Chamber Orchestra of
TURKSOY gathering talented young musicians of the Turkic World has completed
its tour to the Balkans with successful concerts it gave in Skopje and Ohrid in
Macedonia, Podgorica in
Montenegro, Mostar and Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgrade in
Serbia. This year, the orchestra took the scene with young artists from Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and autonomous republics of the
Russian Federation, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.
The orchestra which takes the scene with different
artists every year gathered Mustafa
Mehmandarov, Said Mammadov, Orkhan Cumayev and Sabuhi Akhundov from Azerbaijan,
Anvar Akbarov, Assem Kalman, Zeynep Suleimenova, Aliya Mashkeyeva, Zhangir
Zhubanov, Amina Mashkeyeva and Birzhan Mynbayev from Kazakhstan, Aliya
Okeev from Kyrgyzstan, Bahram Dolyyev from Turkmenistan, Ilzira Kudasheva from
Bashkortostan (RF), Donier Avlaiarov and Arslan Saifi from Tatarstan (RF), along
with Nazlı Avcı, Pelin Odabaşı, Ilayda Zeynep Köksal, Atakan Çalışkan and Işın
Işık from Turkey.
Following the tour of the orchestra in the Balkans, Mustafa
Mehmandarov, the conductor of the “Caspian Virtuosos Orchestra” and Youth
Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY who is currently pursuing his studies at the
Conservatory of Vienna gave an interview to the "Yeniçağ"
internet newspaper of Azerbaijan. Mehmandarov who is one of the young
conductors of Azerbaijan, gave some information on tours of the Youth Chamber
Orchestra of TURKSOY and its contribution to the promotion of Azerbaijani music
as well as to the rapprochement of the Turkic World.
- Maestro, how have you joined this orchestra?
- The Youth Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY was
established in 2010 upon initiative of TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kasseinov. The aim of the
orchestra is to bring together musicians of TURKSOY member countries and Turkic communities living in countries
subject to the Russian Federation on the one hand while introducing works by
Turkic composers to the world. In 2010, I received an invitation to join
this orchestra which gathers talented musicians of the Turkic World. Until 2013,
I worked as a violinist in this orchestra.
- Could you tell us a bit more about the tours of the
orchestra which you participated in?
- Every year, we come together in Turkey where we
rehearse and start giving concerts. We give concerts in a few cities of Turkey
before going on tour abroad. In the first two years following our
establishment, that is to say in in 2010 and 2011, we gave concerts in Bayreuth,
which is a city of Germany known for its festival launched by the famous German
composer. There, we participated in the Festival of Young Artists Bayreuth and
also gave concerts in various venues of the city. In 2012, we gave concerts in
the USA which also raised great interest and gathered a large audience.
- When did you start conducting the Youth Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY?
- My first experience as a conductor dates back to
2016. This is also when I was invited to be part of the orchestra as a conductor.
In 2013, I started to study conducting at the Conservatıry of Vienna.
- Could you tell us some more about the tour of the
orchestra last year?
- Last year, we went on tour in the United Kingdom
where we took the scene in Oxford, London and Edinburgh, and gave two
concerts in prestigious venues of Glasgow. Our concert in London took place in
the St James Church, and in Oxford, we performed in the Sheldonian Theater of
the Oxford University. This circular hall usually only hosts concerts of world famous
orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Oxford Ochestra. One of the scenes in François
Girard's film "The Red Violin” was also shot in this hall. It was a great
honour for us to perform in this hall.
- an we say that you were the firsr musician from
Azerbaijan to have performed in the Sheldonian Theater of the Oxford University?
- Yes, this was a historical moment for all of us. It
was the first time that a piece of music by a composer from Azerbaijan was
performed in the Oxford University.
- Where did your concert take place in Scotland?
- We gave two concerts in Glasgow. Our first concert
took place in the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, and our second concert took
place in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall which has a capacity of 2499 spectators.
Later on, we also performed in the famous Greyfriars Kirk Cathedral in
Edinburgh.
- Did the tour of the orchestra end in Italy in 2016?
- In Italy, we took the scene within the framwork of
the "Emilia Romagna Festival".
We gave concerts in Forli and Pesaro, the city where the famous Italian composer
Gioacchino Rossini was born. Our concert in Pesaro took place in Rocca Constanza,
a castle dating back to the Middle Ages. In our tour in 2016, we gave 8
concerts.
- What kind of feedback have you received regarding
the concerts of the Youth Chamber Orchestra?
- Criticism is the driving force of creativity and
progress. Many people have expressed their admiration and we have received a
lot of positive comments. One of these comments which drew my attention was
that of Prof. Geoffrey K. Pullum from the Faculty of Psychology, Philosophy and
Philology of the Edinburgh University who is also the author of the book on
English Language issued by the Cambridge University. Prof. Pullum told us that
he attended our concert by chance after he saw a poster announcing in in a
shopping mall. He also said that he was extremely surprised once he listened to
us because he did not expect musicians of the Turkic World to be as successful
as their European colleagues. Prof. Pullum said that he was also surprised by
the beauty of the melodies composed by composers of the Turkic World and he
added that culture and art are highly developed in Turkic republics. Of course,
we are really happy to hear such comments by eminent personalities on our
orchestra.
- Could you give us some more information on this
year’s tour of the Youth Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY?
- This year, we went on tour in the Balkans and
the number of artists from Azerbaijan in our orchestra reached its peak with 6
people. As every year, we came together in Ankara where we rehearsed for a few
days before taking the scene in the
Concert Hall of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. I think our performance in
Ankara has shown that we are a well-trained and experienced orchestra. Our next
concert took place in Bursa where we performed in a historical building. Our
tour in the Balkans started in Macedonia. We gave our first concert in Skopje and our second concert took place in
Ohrid within the framework of the Summer Festival of Ohrid. Our schedule was
really well-planned. We started every day with a rehearsal in the morning, then
we had free time to visit historical places of the city and see its beautiful
nature. In the evening, we gave our concerts. I would like to stress that our
concert in Skopje took place in the presence of the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to
Turkey H. E. Faik Bagirov.
The last stop of our tour was Podgorica in Montenegro.
Then we performed in Mostar and Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina and the last
stop of our tour in 2017 took place in
Belgrade where the audience gave us a really warm-hearted welcome. The
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Serbia H. E. Eldar Hasanov did everything necessary to make
us feel comfortable and he told us that he appreciated our performance very
much. This made us very happy, of course. The cocktail reception which took
place after the concert gathered many high-level guests including the MP of Serbia
Mr. Dragomir Karich.
-What kind of works does your orchestra usually perform, and which works do you perform this
year?
- We generally perform world classics along with works
by composers of the Turkic World. Our repertoire also features works by
composers from Azerbaijan. In the last 7 years, we have performed works by Fikret
Emirov, Gara Garayev, Akshin Alizade and Maestro Niyazi. This year, I have
written an arrangement of the String Quartet by the famous French composer Maurice
Ravel which I called “Little Symphony”. We performed it for the first time
during our tour in the Balkans. Other works we performed in our concerts this
year included Fikret Emirov's "Miniatures" which I have written an
arrangement of as well, and works by the Kyrgyz composer Seitaly Medetov, the
Turkmen composer Rovshan Nepesov, the Tatar composer Alsu Sungatullina and the
Turkish composer Turgay Erdener. Let me also stress that a the “Ilıgai
Variations” a composition by our double bass player from Kazakhstan, Birjan
Mynbayev was also performed for the first time in our tour to the Balkans.
- In how far do such events contribute to the
rapprochement of Turkic peoples as well as to the promotion of Turkic peoples’ culture?
- This year, TURKSOY celebrates the 25th
anniversary of diplomatic ties among Turkic Republics and all concerts it
organizes within this framework are contributing to the promotion of the rich
cultural heritage of the Turkic World as
well as to the rapprochement of cultures worldwide. Our concerts also raise
great interest among members of the press media.
There is a really nice atmosphere in our orchestra and
this atmosphere triggered my wish to
become a conductor. My first experience as a conductor dates back to 2011 when
I conducted the orchestra during our tour to Germany. I was a really nice experience
and I enjoyed it very much. The Youth Chamber Orchestra of TURKSOY has been a
milestone in my life as it played a key role in my decision to become a
conductor.
Our tour to the Balkans left wonderful remembrances in
my mind. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Secretary General
of TURKSOY Mr. Dusen Kasseinov for giving young musicians of the Turkic World
the opportunity to express their talent and improve themselves while
introducing the culture of Turkic republics to the world. Such activities and
events are a key contribution to the rapprochement of Turkic peoples.
