Klangkosmos NRW / Nisbet Sedrayeva Ensemble (Aserbaidschan)

INSEL
Klangkosmos NRW / Nisbet Sedrayeva Ensemble (Azerbaijan)
Floating sound on the INSEL
Thursday / April 16, 2026 / 7:30 pm (admission: 7 pm)
Admission: 13/5 (advance booking) and 15/5 (B.O.)

Beguiling classical mugham singing

The ensemble around the up-and-coming female voice Nisbet Sədrayeva is dedicated to classical Azerbaijani mugham.
The mugham style reflects different eras in the history of the Caucasus country on the Black Sea and its contacts with Persians, Armenians, Georgians and other Turkic peoples. Stylistic similarities with the Iraqi maqam, the Persian radif and the Turkish makams can be recognized. Mugham belongs to the modal styles: a mode is a tone scale that has a certain emotional tone due to its specific micro-intervals. The aim of a mugham musician is to develop this mode as imaginatively and virtuosically as possible, in a constant and incessant flow. The singer is accompanied by musicians who play traditional instruments such as the long-necked lute Tar, the four-stringed spiked fiddle Kamancha, the frame drum Daf or the cylindrical drum Nagara. Mugham cannot be notated in a fixed form, but the respective versions are handed down by masters who train their students in the art of interpretation and improvisation. And although mugham today is a classical academic art, it draws on popular melodies from bards, folk music dance rhythms and special playing techniques, making mugham one of the most popular forms of music in the country today.
Originally, mugham was mainly played on secular occasions such as weddings and at salons by music lovers in private settings, as well as being cultivated as a spiritual form by Sufi orders.
The classical mugams are divided into three groups: instrumental mugams, vocal-instrumental mugams and rhythmic mugams.
In 2008, UNESCO inscribed the Azerbaijani mugam on the International Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and in 2012 the artisanal instrument making and performance practice of the long-necked lute Tar.

Nisbet Sedrayeva was born in 1998 in the Shamakhi region and moved with her family to the capital Baku as a child, where she was educated at the 33rd Shusha Children's Music School by Sevinc Sarayeva. From 2009 to 2015, she studied at the Bülbül Music School as a student of Fehruz Səxavət and folk artist Ağaxan Abdullayev. She won her first music competition in 2010, when she took first place at the "Kainat" International Children's Mugham Festival for her interpretation of the percussion mugham "Heyratı". Further prizes at other competitions followed. From 2015 to 2020, she studied at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory under the direction of the internationally renowned master musician Arif Babayev. In 2017, she began performing as a soloist on state television. Nisbet Sədrayeva won 1st place at the International Mugham Festival in 2018 and in the same year gave an acclaimed solo concert as part of a joint project between the state TV cultural channel and the International Mugham Center in Baku, which earned her numerous invitations. This was followed in 2019 by an international tour through Turkey, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In the same year, she began working as a soloist at the International Mugham Center. In 2023 she performed at the Bydgoszcz Music Festival in Poland, received a gold medal in recognition of her performance at the 30th anniversary concert of TURKSOY, which was performed in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In 2024 she sang at a UN conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Muslimov Rustam was born in Baku in 1984 and received his first musical training from 1999 to 2003 at the Asaf Zeynalli Music Technical School. From 2003 to 2017, he studied tar at the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan, from which he graduated with a Master of Arts. He has also been working as a teacher at the National Conservatory since 2007. Since 2001 he has been concertmaster and tar soloist of the Ahmed Bakikhanov Folk Instruments Ensemble of the state TV. In addition, he has participated in numerous events and major music projects in the country over the past 20 years and has toured internationally in the USA, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Poland, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other countries. From 2019 to 2022, he worked as an ensemble director at the Television Mugham Competition organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Kamancha musician Elnur Salahov was born in Baku in 1990. From 2000, he studied at the Music School No. 10 in Mashtaga and specialized in the kamancha and has already taken part in numerous festivals and competitions. In 2006, he continued his training on the kamanche at the Asaf Zeynally Music College, from which he graduated with honors in 2010. He began his studies in 2020. Since 2006 he has been a member of the folk music ensemble "Ahmad Bakikhanov" under the direction of Prof. Möhlət Müslümov. He has been working as a music teacher at music schools since 2011. In 2020 he began studying Kamanche at the State Conservatory, which he completed in 2024. He regularly performs at festivals, TV mugham competitions and concerts in the country and internationally.

Siyavush Karimov was born in 1995. From 2009 to 2014, he began his musical education as a classical percussionist at the G. Garayev Music School. From 2013 to 2018, he then studied percussion in the Folk Music Department at the State University of Culture and Art in Baku. Since 2022 he has been concertmaster and teacher of percussion at the National Conservatory. He regularly performs at concerts and on TV in the country.
The Nisbet Sədrayeva Ensemble is now coming to Klangkosmos NRW with this classical line-up.

Nisbet Sadrayeva - vocals
Rustam Muslumov - Tar
Elnur Salahov - Kamancha
Siyavush Karimov - Nagara

An event by Schwebeklang e.V. in cooperation with INSEL.