Second International Music Festival opens in Qabala

The Second International Music Festival opened in Qabala yesterday, July 30th, at the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Fund.

The opening ceremony was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, the first lady and the Heydar Aliyev Fund’s chairperson, Mehriban Alieva, the UNESCO and ISESCO ambassadors as well as the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, who is now on a visit to Azerbaijan, AzerTAj reports.

In her speech, Mehriban Alieva welcomed all the guests of the festival and mentioned the historic importance of Azerbaijan's most picturesque town, Qabala, which was the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania. She also expressed her gratitude to the UNESCO Director-General for her visit and stressed that relations between Azerbaijan and UNESCO are versatile and productive.
Irina Bokova, in her turn, expressed her satisfaction with her visit to Azerbaijan and wished the festival every success. She said that this International festival is a sort of reflection of Azerbaijan's musical soul, its rich musical legacy and spoke of its importance for the nation’s unity.
The UNESCO Director-General appreciated Mehriban Alieva’s services in the field of inter-cultural dialog in Azerbaijan and decorated her with the UNESCO ‘Mozart Medal’.
Popular singers as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra took part in the festivities.