Yusif Akhundzade

Military director and musician

Major General

Yusif Akhundzade

People's Artist of Azerbaijan

Native name|

Yusif Yevgeniyeviç Axundzadə
Юсиф Евгеньевич Ахундзаде́

Born|  (1946-02-06) February 6, 1946 (age 76)
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance|  Soviet Union
Azerbaijan
Service/branch| Azerbaijani Armed Forces
Years of service| 1971-Present
Rank| Major General
Commands held|  Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
Alma mater| Baku Academy of Music

Major General Yusif Akhundzade (Azerbaijani:Yusif Yevgeniyeviç Axundzadə; Russian:Юсиф Евгеньевич Ахундзаде́) is a prestigious Azerbaijani military conductor and director. Akhundzade is the current Senior Military Director of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. He also serves concurrently as the director of the Central Band of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, a position he has held since 1992.[1]

## Early life and career[edit]

He was born on February 6, 1946 in the city of Baku. In 1969, he graduated from his flute class at the Baku Academy of Music.[2] In 1971, he joined the Soviet Armed Forces, immediately becoming a musician in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Caspian Flotilla.

### Caspian Naval School[edit]

Shortly before completing his compulsory service, he received an offer from Rear Admiral Georgy Stepanov, the head of the Caspian Higher Naval School named after Sergei Kirov (now the Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy),[3] to head its band, an offer Akhundzade accepted. During his service in this band, Akhundzade participated in the 1971 and 1983 October Revolution Parades on Moscow's Red Square.

In 1979, a group of students from Guinea came to study at the school. As the cadets did not know the Russian language, they could not verbally communicate what the national anthem of Guinea (Liberté) sounded like (the sheet music was not in the files at the time) to Akhundzade in time for the visit of Guinean delegation. Akhundzade later asked one of the cadets to hum the anthem, after which he transcribed it and orchestrated it the next day. This made an impression on the school administration, which resulted in Akhundzade being awarded the honorary title of Honored Cultural Worker shortly after this event.[4]

Some musicians of the Band of the Caspian Higher Naval School who served under the direction of Akhundzade later became teachers, artists and conductors in various cities and countries including one who is a director of military band in Russia.[5]

### Post-independence[edit]

He began teaching at the academy of music in 1989 before being invited to lead the newly formed Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in 1992. Since then he has led the exemplary band during welcoming ceremonies for foreign leaders and led the massed bands during the parades in honor of the 90th, 93rd, 95th, and 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. On the eve of the 95th anniversary parade in 2013, he was awarded the rank of colonel.[6] In a 2019 interview, he declared his intention for his band to perform at a victory parade in Shusha's Jidir Plain should the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict be resolved.[7]

His son Rufat (born 1981), serves as an associate band director as well as is a teacher at the Department of Breath and Percussion of Baku Music Academy.[8]

## Awards and Titles[edit]

* Honored Worker of Culture of the Azerbaijan SSR (1979)[9]
* Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1988)
* People's Artist of Azerbaijan (1998)
* Medal "For Military Merit" (2003)
* Azerbaijani Flag Order
* Shohrat Order (2021)[10]

In early 2020, he was elected a member of the International Academy of Turkic World Studies, and was awarded the "Gold Star" medal.[11]

## See also[edit]

* Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
* Baku Academy of Music
* Azerbaijani Armed Forces

## References[edit]

1. ^ ":: Musiqi Dunyasi ::".
2. ^ "Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası - Axundzadə Yusif Yevgeniyeviç".
3. ^ "Структурные подразделения Каспийского ВВМКУ им. С.М.Кирова".
4. ^ "Yusif Axundzadə: Rəsmi qarşılanma mərasimlərində dövlətlərin himnlərini notsuz ifa etməyimiz hər zaman təəccüblə qarşılanıb".
5. ^ "Electronic encyclopediya. Uzeiyr Hajibeyov::: Ахундзаде Юсиф Евгеньевич".
6. ^ "Azərbaycan Respublikası Silahlı Qüvvələrinin hərbi qulluqçularının təltif edilməsi haqqında Azərbaycan Respublikası Prezidentinin Sərəncamı".
7. ^ ""Tezliklə Qələbə uvertürasını səsləndirəcəyik"". AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASI MÜDAFİƏ NAZİRLİYİ (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2020-12-05.
8. ^ "Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası - Axundzadə Rüfət Yusif oğlu". www.musicacademy.edu.az (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2021-02-07.
9. ^ "По следам парламентских музыкантов, или как нынче "обзывают" артистов". 21 November 2006.
10. ^ "Распоряжение Президента Азербайджанской Республики О награждении Ю.Е.Ахунд-заде орденом «Шохрат". azertag.az (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-05-30.
11. ^ "Hərbi Orkestr Xidmətinin qurucusu akademiyanın üzvü seçilib". AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASI MÜDAFİƏ NAZİRLİYİ (in Azerbaijani). Retrieved 2021-02-06.