Musical Olympus festival will see its musicians perform September 18 and 21 in the Baku Philharmonics and September 20 in International Mugam Center as part of The Fourth Uzeyir Gadzhibekov International Music Festival. The festival is organized by the Heydar Aliev foundation and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan.   

The collaboration between the two festivals was facilitated by one of the Musical Olympus “old-timers” Аyyub Guliev (conductor, Azerbaijan, 2010 First Prize - Giuseppe Sinopoli Award at the Arturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition, Parma).

The following participants of Musical Olympus will appear at the concerts in Azerbaijan: Solenne Paidassi (violinist, France, 2010 First Prize winner at Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris); Signum Quartet (saxophone quartet, Germany, 2010 First Prize winners at Torneo Internazionale di Musica in Verona); Ashu (saxophonist, USA, 2008 First Prize at The International Salon de Virtuosi Career, New York); Christoph Croise (cellist, Switzerland, 2010 Gran Prix of IBLA Foundation Competition, Ragusa); Ilya Maksimov (pianist, Russia, 2008 Second Prize winner and Prize of the Public winner at the Maria Canals competition in Barcelona). Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra will take part in the concerts with Ayyub Guliev conducting September 21. 

The Musical Olympus musicians will perform the works of Prokofiev, Dvorak, Barber, Bartok, Ibert, Piazzolla, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff.

“Musical Olympus festival in St Petersburg gives you a sneak peek into the future of classical music”, says Irina Nikitina, the president of Musical Olympus Foundation, “This year concert presentations of the festival will premiere in Azerbaijan and we hope that they become a regular occurrence like our traditional performances in Carnegie Hall in New York, in Zurich, in Berlin Philharmonics or Esplanade concert hall in Singapore”.

Musical Olympus, an annual festival that represents the young artistic elites, is a perfect example of globalization trends in music. Started in 1995 in Russia, the festival today is an important international project praised by both the critics and the audiences around the world. The winners of various international competitions are invited to take part in the Musical Olympus and after 17 years the festival presented over 400 artists from 40 different countries, including the now celebrated Nikolaj Znaider, Sayaka Sedzi, Eldar Nebolsin, Martin Frost, Marina Poplavskaya.