Young violinist proud to represent Türkiye and Azerbaijan on world stage

Solo concert violinist Elvin Hoxha Ganiyev said that he takes immense pride in representing Türkiye and Azerbaijan globally. Born in the Turkish capital Ankara in 1997 to an Albanian father and Azerbaijani mother, Ganiyev completed his primary and secondary education in Türkiye. The violinist, whose mother was a pianist and father a cellist, started learning violin at the age of five. At the age of eight, Ganiyev gave his first concert with the orchestra under the leadership of his late grandfather Server Ganiyev, concertmaster of the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and People's Artist of Azerbaijan. He completed his undergraduate education in Spain and continues his master's degree in Hannover, Germany. Ganiyev has achieved different honors in international competitions and recently came in second in the final round of the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition in Poland with his interpretation of Szymanowski's 1st Violin Concerto accompanied by the orchestra. Ganiyev will receive his award at the gala concert to be conducted by Marin Alsop in Poland on Sept. 23. Speaking to Anadolu about the competition, Ganiyev said that such competitions are important in terms of increasing the recognition of artists and being evaluated by prominent names in the juries. Noting that he sent a video recording for pre-qualification at the end of last year and that the competition concluded three days ago, Ganiyev said that 30 artists took part in the last three rounds of the competition, where thousands of applications were made. After a long period of preparation, Ganiyev said that when he reached the semi-finals, he felt that he would go further, but he was still nervous, adding that he was very excited when he learned that he had reached the final. 'I was about to cry with happiness when the results were announced,' Ganiyev said, recalling the moments when he was waiting for the jury's decision after his performance in the final round. 'I was very happy that I was able to prepare for a competition at this level for which I had been working for years, and that it really paid off,' he said. 'This will push me to higher level concerts and festivals around the world, and open (new) doors for me.' Ganiyev said that in addition to being a musician, he would like to teach at conservatories in Türkiye and abroad.