Azerbaijan, Baku, 27 March / corr. Trend S. Agayeva/ The well-known Azerbaijan compositor and pedagogue Franghiz Ali-Zadeh was nominated the honorary title of UNESCO Artiste for Peace
UNESCO Director General, Koichiro Matsuura has decided to nominate Azerbaijan musician Franghiz Ali-Zadeh the UNESCO Artiste for Peace and Ali-Zadeh would be installed at a ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 3 April, the information bureau of UNESCO said to Trend on 27 March.
She is being recognized for "her efforts to raise public awareness on musical education for orphans and children in need, her contribution in spreading UNESCO's message of peace and tolerance and her dedication to the ideals and aims of UNESCO.
Trained as a pianist, Ms Ali-Zadeh's compositions combine modern and traditional music of her country, called the Mugham, a musical genre designated as a master piece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003. Ali-Zadeh has performed works of Olivier Messiaen, John Cage and George Crumb in her native Baku while her own compositions have been played in festivals and concerts all over the world.Appointed for two years, Ms Ali-Zadeh will lend her support to UNESCO's programmes in the field of musical education.
Previous UNESCO artistes for peace include musician Manu Dibango (Cameroon), actress Patricia Velasquez (Venezuela), musician Gilberto Gil (Brazil, who is servi n g as Minister of Culture of his country), dancer Miyako Yoshida (Japan), soprano Sumi Jo (Republic of Korea), singer and founder of the Gypsy Kings Chico Bouchik h i (France) and conductor Valery Guerguiev (Russia).