The Special Music Boarding School’s Small Hall (the May Kulieva Turkmen National Conservatory) played host to a concert by teachers.
Held to mark Constitution and State Flag Day, the event featured works by modern Turkmen composers Vera Abaeva and Ayna Shirova, and foreign composers, including Georges Bizet, Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, Paul Desmond, and Astor Piazzolla.
The concert opened with ‘Adagio for Oboe’ played by Akhmat Abaev, a teacher of the Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments.
Then, Aylar Batayarova (violin) and Jeykhun Babaev (piano) performed César Franck’s ‘Sonata in A Major’. Elkhan Agaev gave an expressive performance of the first movement of ‘The Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra’, accompanied by Nyazik Khojamukhammedova.
The most unusual piece featured in the program was one of Bach’s sonatas performed by Akhmat Abaev on the saxophone. The audience gave the performer a round of applause. The classical composer’s music played on the instrument invented many years after his death sounded incredibly melodious and very contemporary.
Following the performance, Music School principle, People’s Artist of Turkmenistan Berdyniyaz Babaniyazov took the stage and flawlessly played a folk melody on the dili tuiduk (a national clarinet-like, single-reed instrument).
Pianist Diana Melkumova performed the play ‘Separation’ by modern Turkmen composer Vera Abaeva. After finishing the Special Music Boarding School, Vera continued her music education at the Zhiganov State Conservatory in Kazan. Later, she returned to Ashgabat to nurture young Turkmen pianists.
The event’s program also featured 20th century music, particularly tango and jazz. The organizers had included several pieces. Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Tango’ was performed by Guzel Seyitniyazova (violin) and Ekaterina Chizhova (cello).
The stirring tune ‘Take Five’ by jazz composer Paul Desmond was performed next. Arslan Ashirov delighted the audience with his brilliant drum solo.
Then, the wind ensemble stepped onto the stage: Oktay Najafov (bass clarinet), Elkhan Agaev (clarinet), Gulyalek Akmuradova (flute), Rakhman Khojamkulyev (bassoon), Akhmat Abaev (oboe), Jevlan Kurbanov (French horn), and Diana Melkumova (piano). The ensemble performed the two final pieces: the famous ‘Habanera’ from Georges Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’ and Vera Abaeva’s ‘The Spring March’, which conveys the composer’s impressions of this wonderful season.
After the event, one of the performers, head of the Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments Oktay Najafov told that the main idea behind the concert had been to present an eclectic mix of music styles to the audience. This made it possible to combine the classical works, tunes of the 20th century and music by the contemporary Turkmen composers in the same program.
Oktay also unveiled the event organizers’ future plans to put on a festive concert to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence.
Roman Teplyakov
Photo: Aleksey GIMALITDINOV
