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Azamat Sydykov (born February 3, 1986 Frunze, Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) – Kyrgyz pianist and public figure.

Kyrgyz States Prize winner, Member of the International Academy of Creative Endeavors. Childhood, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Azamat Sydykov was born into a musical family in Bishkek (formerly Frunze) - the capital of Kyrgyzstan, a former Republic of the Soviet Union. His mother, Alamkan Sydykova, was Dean of the Choral B. Beishenalieva Conducting Department of the University of Culture and Arts. His father Djumakadyr Kanimetov is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the A. Maldybaev National Opera and Ballet Theater.

From early childhood Azamat’s mother nurtured his musical talents, teaching him to read and write music and giving him a broad musical foundation. His abilities were recognized by family friends, amongst whom figured several prominent musicians in Kyrgyzstan. In 1991, based upon their recommendations, he was sent to the Abdraev National Special Music School. There he studied for eight years with Svetlana Krivopalova. While studying at this school he won five national music competitions as well as first prize at the” Musician of XXI Century” International Piano Competition in Kazakhstan. During that time he actively performed in international festivals and concerts and also performed as a soloist with the Kyrgyz National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Asankhan Djumakhmatov.

In 2000, Sydykov flew to Moscow, where he would live and study for the next twelve years. He entered the Moscow Central Music School to study under Professor Anatoly Ryabov. Soon after, he became a Fellow of the International Fund of Vladimir Spivakov and of the Foundation "New Names ". He traveled extensively throughout Russia to perform in its most important concert halls, and also took his talents to perform in many concerts abroad.

In 2004 he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Professor Yuri Lisichenko until Lisichenko’s sudden death, after which Azamat studied at the studio of Professor Andrei Pisarev. In 2006, he began to study with Professor Nikolai Petrov. That distinguished Russian pianist taught his young Kyrgyz student with special warmth and put extra energy into encouraging Azamat’s development. Soon Azamat became a Fellow of the Nikolay Petrov International Foundation through which he visited many countries and participated in more international competitions and concerts. In 2009 he received the Grand Prix Prize at the “EUTERPE” International Piano Competition in Italy.

After graduating from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2009, he entered to the same conservatory as a graduate student pursuing a Master of Collaborative Piano under Professor Natalia Bogelava.

In 2011 he relocated to America, where he enrolled in one of the most prestigious musical institutions of the United States, Mannes College of the New School. At the Mannes College, he was awarded a full scholarship to study towards a Professional Studies Diploma. His teacher there is the well-known Bulgarian-American pianist Professor Pavlina Dokovska. After finishing this program in 2013, Azamat Sydykov won the The New School University’s Presidential Scholarship to pursue a Master of Music at Mannes.

For the last two and a half years, Azamat has performed at concerts and festivals throughout America. He is a regular participant of the Mannes yearlong festival concerts which take place in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, Mannes Concert Hall, Neue Galerie, Steinway Hall, Union Hall, and The Center for Jewish History, in addition to the consulates of foreign countries. For two consecutive years, he has performed recitals at the Young Artists Forum Festival, which takes place in Schenectady, New York. In the summer of 2012, he was invited by the Nevada Opera Company to be a musical director of Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus” opera. During his visit to Nevada he was also performed as a soloist at the Reno Artown Festival. That same year Azamat Sydykov was invited by the Remarkable Theater Brigade Company to be both a musical director and performer of music by American composers Bern Herboisheimer and Patrick Soluri at Zankel Hall of Carnegie Hall. In the summer of 2013 he was invited to give solo recitals and master classes in Denver, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Azamat is currently preparing for his official American debut at Carnegie Hall on May 16, 2014 which will be the first appearance of a Kyrgyz musician at that prestigious venue.

Creativity, Artistic Vision

Azamat Sydykov is one of the brightest representatives of the musical art of Kyrgyzstan. His name is widely known in his country and he is especially well regarded by the young generation. Internationally he has performed in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the Great Hall of Moscow International Music House, the Great Hall of the Kyrgyz National Philharmonic, the Palace of Nations in Geneva and the United Nations headquarters in New York. He performed as a soloist with the Kyrgyz National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Asankhan Djumakhmatov and Rakhat Osmonaliev. His recordings of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, Liszt's First Concerto and Beethoven's Fifth concert recorded with this ensemble was entered into the "Golden Fund" of Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Corporation, an official archive of great moments in Kyrgyz performing arts. He also appeared as a soloist with the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Simkin at the Great Hall of Moscow International Music House. His performances have been resounding successes both in his homeland and abroad. He has also performed in Germany, Turkey, Finland, Iran, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, China, Italy, Spain and the United States. He has played at master classes of such eminent pianists as Vladimir Krainev, Sergei Dorenskiy, Paul Badura-Skoda, Andrei Gavrilov, Richard Goode, Efim Bronfman and Ursula Opens.

The first President of Kyrgyzstan, Dr. Askar Akaev played a special role in Azamat’s fate when he gave his full support to the young pianist after noticing his budding talent. Over twelve years young Azamat accompanied the President during state visits, performing in front of many heads of state. When Azamat was fourteen, the President gave him the keys to a new apartment so that the boy and his mother were able to move there from the school dormitory, providing Azamat with the perfect environment for making music. In subsequent years, Azamat and the President bound a warm friendship, meeting again in Moscow, where President Akaev lived following his presidency. Despite mixed popular feelings towards the former President of Kyrgyzstan, the young musician has always openly expressed his respect and gratitude to Dr. Askar Akaev.

Social activities

The pianist Azamat Sydykov is a socially active person whose activities are passionately devoted to the conservation and development of the rich musical traditions of his country. He plays an active role in promoting classical music and western culture in Kyrgyzstan, located in the heart of Asia.

His work has played a positive role during the most difficult moments of his country. Azamat returned to Kyrgyzstan with an American conductor Joel Spiegelman in 2010 to give a series of charity concerts with the Kyrgyz National Symphony Orchestra to support the families of the victims massacred by then President Kurmanbek Bakiev during the April 7, 2010 overthrow of Bakiev’s regime.

That spring and summer was a difficult time for the young Kyrgyz Republic. In June 2010, soon after the spring revolution, there was a bloody inter-ethnic conflict in the southern part of the country which resulted in hundreds of deaths. Azamat requested support from the U.S. government for a project to organize a musical caravan of peace in the conflict-torn city of Osh. With that support, Sydykov flew to Osh with the Kyrgyz State Symphony Orchestra, where to great success he gave a healing concert that brought together people from the two ethnic groups.

He was the artistic director and organizer of international musical festivals and concerts. The "Musical Friendship Necklace" Festival, where he was the artistic director, was successfully held for two years in the White Hall of the Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University in 2009 and 2010, organized by the "Meerim" International Foundation and attended by young artists from 15 countries. He was also the artistic director of concerts in his hometown of Bishkek dedicated to the 170th anniversary Tchaikovsky’s birth in 2011.

Although he was spent all of his adult life away from his homeland, he always supported his country. In September 2011, he played a solo recital at the United Nations headquarters in New York in support of the candidacy of Kyrgyzstan in the Security Council. In December of 2012, he gave a charity concert at the Consulate General of Bulgaria in New York, organized by former President of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbaeva, in support of gifted children in his country.