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The Azerbaijani pianist, Gunel Mirzayeva, began studying the piano at the age of 7 with Professor Tayana Ryabuha. She became a student of the Bul-Bul Special Music School in Baku in 1994, where she studied with with Tatyana Ryabuha and later with Yuri Sabayev, and graduated in 2005. From 2005 to 2006 she studied at the Baku State Music Academy with Professor Yuri Sabayev. In 2006 she moved to study to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, under a full scholarship. She completed there her Bachelor of Music degree with Ronan O'Hora, followed by Master’s degree in Music and Music Business Management in the University of Westminster. In 2015, she has got accepted on the Doctorate of Music programme at Guildhall School, where she is currently studying with Professor Ronan O'Hora. Her supervisors are: Dr. Cormac Newark, Dr. Claire Taylor-Jay and Dr. Razia Sultanova. The title of her research is “ Piano Music of Azerbaijan: the evolution of style in the 20th century”. Recently she took part in Lucerne Academy’s master-classes with Professor Robert Levin. She also participated in several other master-classes, most recently with Bryce Morrison, Paul Lewis, Viktor Rosenbaum, Imogen Cooper, Domenique Merlet, James Gibb, Guillermo Gonzalez, Charles Owen, John O'Connor, Ivaru Ilja, Richard Goode and Olli Mustonen.
Gunel Mirzayeva has participated and won prizes in several competitions, including 3rd Prize at N. Aliverdibekov Young Musicians Competition in Baku; in 2005; 1st Prize at All Republic Azerbaijani Competition in Baku in 2005; 1st Prize at International Piano Competition for Young Musicians in Enschede, Netherlands (AAF) in October 2008; 1st Prize at the Beethoven Piano Prize Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2009; 2nd Prize at Sheepdrove Piano Competition (part of Newbury Spring Festival) in Berksire, UK in 2009. She has been a recipient of scholarships and grateful for the financial support from City of London Corporation Trust, Guildhall School Trust, Music Students’ Hostel Trust, Leverhulme Trust, Anglo-Azeri Society Trust, The European Azerbaijani Sociey. During her studies Gunel also gratefully received music awards such as The Else and Leonard Cross Award, James Gibb Award, Alec Beecheno Bursary and the Kathleen Higginson Piano Prize.
Gunel Mirzayeva has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe. Her public appearances included concerts with the Azerbaijan National Symphony Orchestra, concert in House of Commons in 2007, recitals and concerts in Azerbaijan, UK, Holland, Germany. Notable performances include concerts at the Wigmore Hall, The House of Commons, The Yehudi Menuhin School, St. Martins-in-the-Field and the Barbican Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (which were broadcast live on Dutch National Radio 4 ), and the Steinfurter Bagno Concert Hall in Germany. Her appearance in the New Masters Series® at The Court, is the absolute befitting descriptive forum for her blossoming international career……. "You heard it here first!". She had a concerto opportunities with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra in Stadhalle Wuppertal, Germany and Azerbaijani State Symphony Orchestra in Baku, Azerbaijan. Gunel has also performed at the music festivals such as “Les Cabardieses de Pennautier” and “Fete Musicale de la Foret” in France, “Brahms Woche” and “Oldenburger Promenade” in Germany.
Gunel Mirzayeva has a particular interest in J.S. Bach’s keyboard music and has begun to work with David Dolan and Robert Levin on its embellishment practices. In 2018, she explored a project focusing on the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) in a Residency at the prestigious Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She has been performing a wide range of J.S. Bach's keyboard repertoire and Azerbaijani piano music for a long period of time and have been motivated by passion in exploring new avenues of interpretation. The balance between fusion of contrasting musical traditions, musical methods of ornamentation and embellishment practices are at the centre of her current practice-based doctoral research at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. The development of her music consciousness was mirrored in the continuous experimentation with the text, the tendency is widely represented with jazz or folk music but was not passed onto classical musicians to such an extent. During her recent residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, her intention is to explore the fundamental aesthetics of improvisation and re-composition of J.S. Bach’s keyboard works with Azerbaijani national music genre Mugham and investigate the fundamental aesthetics of improvisation in her interpretation of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), formulating western embellishment methods in the composition. The proposed project aims to reveal a historical and cultural relationship between Mugham and the Baroque musical style of improvisation. Gunel Mirzayeva plans to apply the resulting interpretational findings to her performance practice. |
