Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
On 25 February, the Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan Afag Abbasova, a soloist of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will sing the title role of Aida in the same name opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The Azerbaijani singer has already brilliantly sang Nedda in the opera Pagliacci on the Belarusian stage, and also took part in the Gala concert of the 5th Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum.
Afag Abbasova graduated from the vocal Department of the Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music. She studied in the class of the People's Artist of USSR Professor Fidan Gasimova. She also studied opera directing and acting in the class of legendary Guljahan Gulahmedova-Martynova, Azerbaijan's first female theater Director. Having graduated from the Academy of Music, the artist started her singing career at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Her repertoire includes Violetta in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, Mimi in La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, Georgette in Il Tabarro by Giacomo Puccini, Leonora in Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, Nedda in I Pagliacci of Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Adina in L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti, Sevil in Sevil by F. Amirov, etc.
Afag Abbasova is the winner of the certificate of the 6th Bulbul International Contest of Vocalists and a prize winner of several international vocal contests. In 2012, Afag Abbasova was awarded the "Youth Award", established by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan. Since 2013, she has been a holder of the Presidential State Prize. She has toured Germany, Austria, UK, France, Italy, Turkey, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Kazakhstan, Malta and Northern Cyprus.
Hobart Earle is a graduate of London's Trinity College and is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where he studied composition with Milton Babbitt, Edward Cone, Paul Lansky and Claudio Spies (USA). After graduation, Hobart Earle studied conducting at the Academy of Music in Vienna with Professor Karl Osterreicher. He has participated in various international conducting master courses in Salzburg and Holland, and with Otto Werner-Mueller in the United States. In 1987, Hobart Earle did his internship with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. In the same year, he founded and directed the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the American Music Ensemble Vienna/Ensemble for Viennese Music in New York. He directed more than 10 premieres, recorded by the Austrian radio in Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and other cities. Having come with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra on tour in the Soviet Union in 1990, Hobart Earl met with the Odessa Philharmonic orchestra, which was the beginning of a long-term cooperation. Maestro Earle and the Odessa Orchestra have performed in the best concert halls in 15 countries of the world (including Carnegie Hall in New York; Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; Musikverein in Vienna; the Barbican Hall in London; the Liszt Academy in Budapest; Philharmonic Hall in Cologne, Germany; the Great Halls of the Moscow Conservatory and the St Petersburg Philharmonic Society; Orchestra Hall in Chicago; Davies Hall in San Francisco and the General Assembly of the United Nations; the national Auditorium in Madrid, etc.)
In 2014, Hobart Earle was recognized as one of 30 "Professionals of the Year" by Musical America Worldwide. In 2017 Hobart Earle was invited for the post of Principal conductor of the "New York Festival of New Music".
