Munis Sharifov

Biography

Munis Sharifov, Kamancha: He was born in the village of Arabojag , of the city of Agdash , in Azerbaijan , April 24 1962 . His first teachers of kamancha were Shahit Adbullayev and Shahin Ibrahimov at the Agdash Music School . Later he went on to study at the Asef Zeynalli School of Music in Baku under prof. Shafiga Eyvazova and prof. Rafig Imrani. At the college level, he continued his studies with prof. Shafiga Eyvazova at the Uzeyir Hajibeyov State Conservatory of Baku (now Musical Academy of Baku) as well.

He began his professional career in 1982 as the principal kamancha player in the instrumental ensemble led by the famous Islam Rzayev. Since then, he has been working in close cooperation with the Azerbaijan State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company and other private TV and Radio companies. From 1986 until just recently, he was a soloist in the Azerbaijan State Concert Union. In 1985, he received a diploma from the 12th International Festival in Moscow . In 1990, he was invited to teach at the Musical Academy of Baku, where he had graduated from, and where he continues to teach, in addition to his position as kamancha professor at the National Conservatory of Baku, where he also works in collaboration with the famous Azeri singer prof. Arif Babayev.

Between 1993 and 1995, Sharifov taught in Iran at the Tehran Music & Cultural Center as well as the Music Institute, while making solo appearances on the Iranian concert stages, radio and TV. There he produced two solo albums. In 1997, 2003 and 2004 he recorded 3 more solo albums in Baku , in both cassette and CD formats. In 2004 came also a videocassette and DVD.

In 1996, Sharifov became one of two founders of the Azerbaijan State Ensemble of Ancient National Instruments, in collaboration with the Azerbaijan State Museum of Musical Culture. He has been the musical director, arranger and soloist of the group since. With this ensemble, he plays a replica of the "chagane"; an ancient musical instrument reconstructed by prof. Majnun Karimov. This instrument comes from the Shirvan region of Azerbaijan , and its history goes back ca.1000 years. With tireless effort, he has accomplished distinguishable work in playing this instrument, striving to make it known all over the world, being its sole performer.

In 2000, he demonstrated the performance possibilities of the kamancha and chegane, at the International Symposium of Bowed String Instruments, which took place in Edinburgh , Scotland . In 2002, he also introduced the chegane at The International Scientific Conference of Modern Ethnoorganology, in honor of Bolat Saribaey, in Alma-Ati , Kazakhstan . In 2004, he demonstrated Azerbaijani traditional music and the kamancha at an International Symposium organized by the Azerbaijani American Cultural and Educational Foundation (AACEF) in Bloomington , IN , USA .

In 2002, upon invitation by UNESCO, Sharifov gave concerts in France . Playing Azerbaijani traditional music as well as music of the east and west; Sharifov has toured all over the world: India , Sri Lanka , United Arab Emirates , Germany , Turkey , Ireland , USA , Iran , Switzerland , Canada , Russia , Ukraine , Uzbekistan etc.

In 2004, invited by AACEF and Indiana University ; he toured USA with the Silk Road Ensemble, and gave master classes at Indiana University , University of Wisconsin , and Ohio State University .

munissharifov@yahoo.com Cell: 0099455 778 21 15