Dubai, UAE
On Tuesday 14th February, the Kazakh State Symphony Orchestra continue their stay at the 2023 InClassica International Music Festival. Performing under conductor Valid Agayev, the ensemble opens with Kudasha Duman, a short rousing piece for symphony orchestra written by the 20th-century Soviet composer, Erkegali Rakhmadiev. Korean violinist Ji Young Lim then joins the orchestra in a performance of Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor’s Seascapes violin concerto. Divided into four distinct movements, the concerto adds to a long line of works inspired by the sublime beauty of the sea, featuring haunting melodic lines as well as complex technical passages that promise to carry audiences on a musical journey of their own. After a brief intermission, the ensemble welcomes Israeli pianist Saleem Ashkar to conclude the evening with Shor’s famed Piano Concerto No. 2 ‘From my Bookshelf’. The concerto incorporates a series of eight musical portraits describing some of Shor’s favourite literary figures, aptly demonstrating the composer’s deft programmatic style of writing and strong use of melody.
Born in 1983, Conductor Valid Ağayev is originally from Baku, Azerbaijan. Valid Ağayev attended a Specialised Music School, and then studied violin at the Baku State Academy and earned a Bachelor of Music cum laude in 2006. In 2008 he achieved Master of Music also with honours.
From 2012 to 2017 Valid Ağayev studied conducting at the High School of Music and Dance in Cologne; first with Professor Michael Luig and later on with Professor Alexander Rumpf. At the end of 2016, he successfully passed his final conducting exam with honours.
As part of his studies, he regularly led the Philharmonie Südwestfalen Orchestra. Since 2017, Valid Ağayev was invited regularly as a guest conductor to the Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia. In April 2017, he flew to Madrid on short notice to perform with the orchestra for the first time, and then later in May to perform at the scene of Auditorio Nacional de Música. In November 2017 he shared the stage with the Ukrainian National Symphony Orchestra in Kiel, Germany.
In December 2019, Mr. Ağayev worked very successfully with the Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra and then went to Astana to work with the world famous violinist Shlomo Mintz and "Academy of Soloists of Kazakhstan”. Since 2021 Mr. Ağayev works as Associate Professor in Çukurova State Conservatory in Adana, Türkiye.
In 2022 started intensive cooperation between Çukurova State Symphony Orceestra,Valid Ağayev and famous artists such as Jasmine Choi, Mark Bouchkov, Manu Brazo, Ji Young Lim and Salem Ashkar.
Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an exciting international career. Recent and future concerto highlights include the Brussels Philharmonic, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestre National de Lyon, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In autumn 2021, he toured Germany with the Kammerakademie Potsdam performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 and the world premiere of David Coleman‘s Piano Concerto.
Previous seasons have seen him perform with the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw, the Detroit, St Louis, Vancouver and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestras and on a three-week tour to Australia. Saleem has a close relationship with many leading conductors including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.
A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Saleem has a particularly strong reputation as a Beethoven specialist and has performed a complete Sonata cycle in Prague, Duisburg and at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Recent and future highlights include recitals at Oslo Opera House, Wigmore Hall in London, Queen’s Hall in Copenhagen, Milan Verdi Conservatory Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Boulezsaal Berlin and Musikverein Vienna.
Saleem is Artistic Director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, formed of young and professional musicians to encourage collaboration between the Arab and Jewish communities in Israel. Saleem works with the orchestra both as conductor and soloist. In March 2022, they made their debut at Carnegie Hall in a programme with Joshua Bell as soloist and at Koerner Hall, Toronto. Recent engagements included a highly acclaimed European tour, which included performances at Konzerthaus Berlin and Rheingau Festival.
Saleem’s most recent recordings have been for Decca Records. They have released the Mendelssohn Piano Concertos with the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Chailly and two Beethoven Concertos with the NDR Elbphilharmonie and Ivor Bolton. Saleem is also recording the complete Beethoven Piano Sonata cycle for Decca, the first five volumes of which are already released. The sixth and final volume will be released this season.
When Ji Young Lim became the first Korean winner at her age of 20 in the violin category of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2015, she showed various musical strengths including amazing concentration, bold and stable performance, as well as well-trained techniques, so she made her name known to the world by winning a unanimous agreement of the jury among the prominent candidates from various countries. Her orchestral highlights include Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, etc.. She also performed with musicians including Andras Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, Alexander Shelley, David Zinman, Tugan Sokhiev, and Christoph Eschenbach, and in 2017, her first album, which recorded Mozart’s violin sonatas and Beethoven’s violin sonatas with pianist Dong hyek Lim was released worldwide by Warner Classics.
She studied at Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts and received the bachelor’s degree at the Korea National University of Art. After receiving the Master’s degree at the Kronberg Academy in Germany under Mihaela Martin, she continued her doctoral studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in Germany. She put her name down as the only classical musician selected by Forbes, “Asian Leaders Under 30”, and during Covid-19 pandemic, she challenged performing Eugene Ysaye and J.S. Bach’s all violin sonatas to expand her musical world. Ji Young Lim performs on Sasserno Stradivarius made in 1717.
The Kazakh State Symphony Orchestra is the leading musical ensemble of the Republic of Kazakhstan, consisting of a highly professional roster of musicians, with a brilliant virtuoso technique, rich sound palette, and a dedication towards developing the best traditions of chamber music.
The orchestra, consisting of 90 talented musicians, performs works from different epochs and styles and is skilled in interpreting baroque, classical and contemporary music. Performances of national music, with orchestral arrangements of folk songs, as well as performances of works by contemporary Kazakh composers occupy a significant place in the group's work.
The orchestra successfully represents the musical art and performing traditions of Kazakhstan abroad and develops international cultural ties. The creative team has collaborated with world-famous performers from Russia, Austria, Israel, Germany, USA, Norway, Sweden, and many others.
The orchestra carries out special concert programs with the invitation of leading conductors. The recognition of the mastery of the Kazakh orchestra is evidenced by performances led by a variety of famous foreign conductors, including I. Suk, V. Chapek, E. Schmider, O. Schmidt-Gertenbach, J. von Bertoli, V. Fedoseev, K. Orbelyan, Rin Yong Yang, D. Bartolossi, G. Emilson, etc. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the orchestra has performed with great success in the best concert halls in Europe, Asia and America. The ensemble also takes part in many international classical music festivals.
The orchestra was established in 1991 on the initiative of the world famous violinist, People's Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Hero of Labor of Kazakhstan, professor, rector of the Kazakh National University of Arts, artistic director of the orchestra Aiman Musakhadzhayeva. The chief conductor of the orchestra is the Honored Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan, professor of KazNUA Bakhytzhan Musakhodzhaeva.
