A festive concert dedicated to the bright and joyous holiday — Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 — was held in the Grand Hall of the Turkmen National Conservatory named after Maya Kuliyeva.
Among those present in the audience were representatives of the older generation, young people, and children. Many of the children wore sailor caps and military pilot caps, while adults had St. George ribbons pinned to their chests. These symbols of the wartime years connect today’s younger generation with the heroic past of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Seated in the front row were the honored guests: World War II veteran Sergey Tevosovich Adamyan, who turned 100 in April of this year, home front worker Lyudmila Vladimirovna Shelemetova, and the Siege of Leningrad survivor Galina Alekseyevna Mamedova.
At the opening of the concert, host Guljemal Mulkiyeva spoke about the invaluable contribution made by the people of Turkmenistan to the long-awaited Victory. Particularly moving for the audience was her story about the family of Tagan Uzbek from the Mary velayat, whose 11 sons all went to the front, and none of them returned.
In honor of Victory Day, the conservatory prepared a large festive concert program. Before it began, a minute of silence was announced. The audience rose to their feet and observed the minute in mournful silence in memory of the soldiers who gave their lives.
The concert program opened with Hydyr Allanurov’s “Requiem,” performed by Arzygul Gylyjova. In Arzygul’s voice one could hear grief and longing for a husband who never returned from the war.
The evening’s concert program was diverse. Works by Turkmen composers — Aman Agajikov, Nury Halmamedov, and Ayna Shirova — were performed from the stage, along with heartfelt wartime songs preserved in people’s memory as sacred treasures. Alongside these pieces, a selection of classical music by Tchaikovsky and Scriabin was unexpectedly included in the program. As the host explained, during the Siege of Leningrad, the premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony was performed in the starving city, becoming a psychological blow to the enemy and proving that the people of Leningrad were alive and would never surrender.
The beautiful voices of the conservatory’s vocalists once again captivated the audience. Honored Artists of Turkmenistan Leyli Okdirova and Ayna Seyitguliyeva, People’s Artist of Turkmenistan Gulnar Nuryeva, as well as Begench Moshiev, Begench Gaipov, Bahar Durdyyeva, and Arzygul Gylyjova masterfully performed both classical and folk compositions.
The audience heard such famous songs as “In the City Garden,” “Smuglyanka,” “In the Dugout,” “Katyusha,” “Echo of Love,” “Dark Night,” and “The Blue Scarf,” as well as the romance “Soýgi” by Ayna Shirova, “Gowganli gije” by Aman Agajikov, “Esgeriň ýatlamasy” by Nury Halmamedov, and others.
Naturally, the concert concluded with the legendary anthem of the Great Patriotic War — “Victory Day” by David Tukhmanov. On this day, the song “Victory Day” was performed millions of times in many countries around the world. On the conservatory stage, it was performed by Begench Gaipov, Begench Moshiev, Gulnar Nuryeva, and other participants of the concert program. The audience sang along and supported the performers with applause.
The “Victory Day” concert, organized by the Chamber Ensemble Department, was a great success. The accompanist of the evening and active organizer of the concert was Stella Faramazova, a laureate of international competitions.
