Aida Hamdulla gizi Abdullayeva (23 April 1922, Baku – 11 April 2009, Baku) was an Azerbaijani Soviet

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ist, teacher, professor at the

Baku Music Academy The Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music (Azeri: ''Hacıbəyov adına Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası'') is a music school in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was established in 1920 in Baku and was previously known as the Hajibeyov Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. ...

, founder of the Azerbaijan School of Harp Performance, Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1972). She is known as the first Azerbaijani harpist.

Life and education

Aida Abdullayeva was born on 23 April 1922 in Baku. In 1940, she graduated from ten-year high school and with the assistance of prominent composer

Uzeyir Hajibeyov Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn oghlu Hajibeyov ( az, Üzeyir bəy Əbdülhüseyn oğlu Hacıbəyov; russian: Узеир Абдул-Гусейн оглы Гаджибеков, translit=Uzeir Abdul-Guseyn ogly Gadzhibekov; September 18, 1885November 23, 19 ...

entered the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

. With the beginning of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1941 Aida Abdullayeva returned to Baku and was employed in the orchestra of the

Opera and Ballet Theater Opera and Ballet Theatre of Saransk was inaugurated on September 9, 2011 in Saransk within the International forum ''Russia — the sports power''. The Big symphonic orchestra made a speech at opening ceremony of P.I. Tchaikovsky, directed by Vladi ...

. In autumn 1942 Abdullayeva and her family was repressed and deported to Kazakhstan. Only in 1943, she with the assistance of Uzeyir Hajibeyov returned to Baku and resumed studying at the Baku State Conservatory, starting to work in the symphony orchestra of the Republic’s Radio Committee. In 1944, Abdullayeva with the help of Uzeyir Hajibeyov returned to study at the Moscow Conservatory. She studied under the supervision of Ksenia Erdeli. In 1949, Abdullayeva graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. The same year the rector of the Conservatory offered her to start teaching harp class.

Career

Starting from 1950 and until the end of her life Abdullaeva worked at the Baku Music Academy. In the 1970s Abdullayeva organized the first quartet of harpists from among her students. For over 60 years of work at the conservatory, she has trained more than 25 professionals that became laureates of various prestigious competitions. In 1972, Abdullayeva was awarded a title of Honored Artist of Azerbaijan. In 1985, she published a valuable textbook "Program for the class of harp in music schools". Abdullayeva transcribed many plays by

Fikret Amirov Fikret Mashadi Jamil oghlu Amirov ( az, Fikrət Məşədi Cəmil oğlu Əmirov; November 22, 1922, Ganja – February 20, 1984, Baku) was a prominent Soviet and Azerbaijani composer. Biography Fikret Amirov grew up in an atmosphere of Azerba ...

, preserving the composer’s style and the national nature of Azerbaijani music. Abdullayeva was married to a sculptor

Tokay Mammadov Tokay Habib oglu Mammadov ( az, Tokay Həbib oğlu Məmmədov; July 18, 1927, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR – May 2, 2018, Baku, Azerbaijan) was the eminent sculptor-monumentalist of Azerbaijan, People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1973), correspond ...

. Aida Abdullayeva died on 11 April 2009 in Baku. In April 2012, Baku Jazz Center hosted an event dedicated to the 90th birthday of Abdullayeva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullayeva, Aida 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Azerbaijani musicians Women harpists Burials at II Alley of Honor