Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
7:00 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel
Praised by The Examiner as a “piano protege” and an “award winning talent” Ali Mammadoff has been captivating audiences around the globe with his virtuosity, depth, sensitivity and individuality. His exceptional pianistic abilities have taken him all over the world from Europe to the United States. He appeared numerous times both as a soloist and with the orchestra in the United States, England, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. His most recent highlights include the performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in D minor and Prokofiev’s Concerto no 3 in C major with maestro Fuad Ibrahimov, which was received with a huge ovation. His breathtaking performances have won him prizes at international competitions both as a pianist and a composer.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan the future musician began to show curiosity in piano at the age of five. Noticing his passion, at the age of 7 his mother took him to the Special Music School named after Bülbül in Baku, where he studied music fundamentals with Adelya Rahimova and composition with Pike Akhundova. Despite early successes with winning local competitions; orchestrating and performing his own works with orchestra, he wasn’t sure whether he is going to continue with music. However, Mr. Mammadoff decided to make a life-long professional commitment to music from the age of 16. As a huge fan of jazz music Mammadoff wanted to pursue his career as a jazz pianist first, but then he decided to leave it as a hobby. His exceptional talent and passion for music brought him to Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he studied under Phillip Kawin and immediately was awarded the Harold and Helene Schoenberg scholarship. He also received lessons from Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein, Rena Shereshevskaya, William Grant Nabore, etc. at the age of 24.
As a part of the “New Names” project, Mammadoff performed for the first time with the symphonic orchestra one of the most difficult concertos in piano literature— Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in D minor. After this sensational performance, he was immediately invited to perform this concerto at the 13th Gabala International Music Festival with maestro Fuad Ibrahimov in the open air concert. In the interview, Mammadoff said that he couldn’t have done it without a guidance of his mentor Stanislav Ioudenitch, because of whom he left everything in New York City to move to Kansas City.
In October 2023 Mammadoff participated in the “World Concerto Tour” project by Stanislav Ioudenitch celebrating Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary featuring the composer’s complete piano concerti. In March 2024, as a part of “New Names” project Mr. Mammadoff was invited again to perform Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with maestro Fuad Ibrahimov at the Azerbaijani State Philharmonic Hall which was received with huge success. In April 2024, he was invited to perform at David Dubal’s Piano Evenings series. In the summer 2024, Mr.Mammadoff recorded a complete set of 24 Preludes and Fugues from the second book of Well Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach, which will be released in January 2025.
Currently Mr. Mammadoff studies at Park University International Center for Music under 2001 Van Cliburn Gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch.
Program
Intermezzi op. 117 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Sonata Op.2 No. 3 in C Major by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegro con brio
Adagio
Scherzo: Allegro
Allegro assai
INTERMISSION
24 Preludes op. 28 by Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
1.C major – Agitato
2.A minor – Lento
3.G major – Vivace
4.E minor – Largo
5.D major – Molto allegro
6.B minor – Lento assai
7.A major – Andantino
8.F-sharp minor – Molto agitato
9.E major – Largo
10.C-sharp minor – Molto allegro
11.B major – Vivace
12.G-sharp minor – Presto
13.F-sharp major – Lento
14.E-flat minor – Allegro
15.D-flat major – Sostenuto
16.B-flat minor – Presto con fuoco
17.A-flat major – Allegretto
18.F minor – Molto allegro
19.E-flat major – Vivace
20.C minor – Largo C minor
21.B-flat major – Cantabile
22.G minor – Molto agitato
23.F major – Moderato F major
24.D minor – Allegro appassionato
