Fargana Alim qizi Qasimova ( az, Fərqanə Alim qızı Qasımova; born August 6, 1979) is an
Azerbaijani mugham
Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik.
It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...
singer in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
. She is the daughter of famous mugham singer
Alim Qasimov
Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov ( az, Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician and one of the foremost mugham singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of ...
. She has twice received presidential awards for the promotion of Azerbaijani music, in 2012 and 2014.
Biography
In 1995, at the age of sixteen, Qasimova joined
Alim Qasimov
Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov ( az, Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician and one of the foremost mugham singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of ...
on his concert tour to Germany for the first time.
By the age of twenty she had become a full-fledged singer in her own right, and Qasimov chose to include his daughter in his ensemble. Farghana first appeared on 1997's ''The Legendary Art of Mugham,'' on which the two shared vocal tasks on the song Getme Getme. Their next album included a track, Bagishlamani, dedicated to his colleague,
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...
.
The release marked a high point for Qasimov as it was his first widely available release to western audiences and it proved a critical success. Qasimova's efforts, with her father's guidance, to reconnect younger generations with mugham began to pay dividends; not only was he appealing to traditional
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic sections of the Azerbaijani population, but also to more Americanised and modern audiences.
The breakthrough amongst the younger generations spurred him on: "Sometimes young people come up after a concert to thank me. That's like giving me wings. I feel so elated when I can awaken such feelings in people while they are still young; mugham is not an easy genre for young people to understand".
[
In 1999, Qasimova with her father participated in “The Spirit of the East” concert directed and composed by Israeli ]Mizrahi
''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings.
In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to:
*Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East
* Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...
musician Peretz Eliyahu and Mark Eliyahu
Mark Eliyahu ( he, מארק אליהו; born 13 July 1982) is an Israeli musician. He plays the kamancheh.
Early life
Eliyahu was born in 1982 in Soviet Dagestan and immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1989. At age 16, he was inspired by ...
.
In 2007, she recorded and released further ''Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan'' with her father. She also took the opportunity to perform in New York City in 2005 as part of Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma (''Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
's Silk Road Project
Silkroad, formerly the Silk Road Project, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization, initiated by the cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, promoting collaboration among artists and institutions, promoting multicultural artistic exchange, and studying the ebb and ...
. The concert aimed to promote multi-cultural artistic exchange between eastern and western cultures and ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' regarded her performance, alongside Malik Mansurov and Rauf Islamov, as the highlight of the event.
In 2002, she made her first appearance as a soloist at the Women's Voices Festival in Belgium.
In 2014, she released Yalniz Ona Doghru, which became her first album. In the same year, she gave her first solo concert in Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
.
Discography
Albums
*''The Legendary Art of Mugham'' (October 15, 1997) with Alim Qasimov Ensemble
*'' Love's Deep Ocean'' (October 11, 1999) with Alim Qasimov
Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov ( az, Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician and one of the foremost mugham singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of ...
*''Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan'' (September 25, 2007) with Alim Qasimov
Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov ( az, Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician and one of the foremost mugham singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of ...
*"Intimate dialogue" – Live at Morgenland Festival Osnabrück 2009 with Alim Qasimov
Alim Hamza oghlu Qasimov ( az, Alim Həmzə oğlu Qasımov; born August 14, 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician and one of the foremost mugham singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of ...
*
Durnalar
' (May 12, 2014)
References
Further reading
Interview with Qasimov in ''Al-Ahram Weekly''
External links
Alim and Ferghana Qasimov performing live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qasimova, Farghana
1979 births
Living people
21st-century Azerbaijani women singers
People from Shamakhi
Mugham singers