Concert Marking 140 Years since the Birth of Uzeyir Hajibeyli

A gala concert marking 140 years since the birth of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the founder of Azerbaijani classical music, was held at the Belgrade Philharmonic. Mina Ristić Jonić was piano collaborator to soprano Jasmina Trumbetaš Petrović and soloist Orkhan Jalilov, and in several numbers she also played as pianist with the St. George Strings orchestra.

Organised by the Embassy of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani Cultural Centre, a gala concert marking 140 years since the birth of Uzeyir Hajibeyli, regarded as the founder of Azerbaijani classical music and the composer of the national anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was held on 15 November 2025 in the ceremonial hall of the Belgrade Philharmonic. The concert was also dedicated to Azerbaijan’s Victory Day.

Under the baton of Mustafa Mehmandarov, conductor of the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, the performers included the chamber orchestra St. George Strings, soprano Jasmina Trumbetaš Petrović, pianist Mina Ristić Jonić, soloist Orkhan Jalilov, pianist Vasif Huseyn, Ibrahim Babayev on the tar, Magsad Azizov on the balaban and the dance group “Ritm”.

The audience heard arias from Hajibeyli’s operas and operettas, instrumental works and the sound of the traditional Azerbaijani instruments tar and balaban, together with traditional dance. Mina Ristić Jonić had several roles at the concert. She was piano collaborator to soprano Jasmina Trumbetaš Petrović in two of Hajibeyli’s arias, and to the Azerbaijani soloist Orkhan Jalilov in the art song “Veruj da te ljubim” (“Believe That I Love You”) by the Serbian composer Isidor Bajić. In several numbers she also played the piano part within the St. George Strings chamber orchestra. A Serbian art song performed by an Azerbaijani soloist was one of the symbolic moments of an evening dedicated to the friendship between the two countries.

The concert was attended by some 200 guests, including the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sabina Aliyeva, representatives of Serbian state institutions, foreign ambassadors and representatives of the Ministry of Culture from Baku. The guests were welcomed by the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Serbia, Kamil Khasiyev, who recalled that Serbia is one of the few countries in the world where a monument to Uzeyir Hajibeyli has been erected.

“It was a great pleasure to perform with wonderful artists from Azerbaijan and Serbia,” Mina Ristić Jonić wrote after the concert. Recordings from the concert have been published in the YouTube playlist “Uzeyir Hajibeyli 140 • Belgrad”.