Abuzar Manafzade

Abuzar Manafzade is a multi-talented young Azerbaijani artist who is an international prize-winning pianist, composer, and conductor. Born in Baku, he comes from a musical family and started taking music lessons at the age of seven. At nine, he won the "Azerbaijani Young Pianists Competition," the first of many international awards to come.

Manafzade completed his Bachelor's Degree in Piano at the Mimar Sinan University State Conservatory in Istanbul, studying under the guidance of Prof. Bahar Tokay. He also studied Theory and Composition with Prof. Hasan Uçarsu and Orchestral Conducting with Prof. Antonio Pirolli. Afterwards, he pursued further studies at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, where he obtained his Master's Degree in Piano under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed pianist, Prof. Oleg Marshev.

In addition to his training as a pianist, Manafzade also pursued his passion for conducting, becoming the first Azerbaijani to complete the five-year diploma program in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2022. There, he studied with world-renowned conductor Prof. Dr. Johannes Wildner and conducted some of Europe’s most prestigious orchestras, such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, and many others at world-class concert halls including the Wiener Konzerthaus Großer Saal and the Wiener Musikverein Großer Saal. Following his graduation, he worked as Assistant Conductor at Neue Oper Wien.

Abuzar Manafzade’s exceptional accomplishments include winning 18 prizes in international piano competitions and performing in numerous countries across the globe, including Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA, and Uzbekistan.

His artistic development has been enriched by masterclasses with such renowned pianists as Boris Petrushansky, Oxana Yablonskaya, Rolf Plagge, Lilya Zilberstein, Milena Mullova, Tamara Poddubnaya, Toros Can, and Milan Franek. As a conductor, he also participated in masterclasses led by Marin Alsop, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Boris Perrenoud.

As a composer, Manafzade is well known for his piano works and is currently working on his first opera. He is also the composer of the world’s first Concerto for Balaban and Symphony Orchestra.

Abuzar Manafzade currently resides in Vienna, Austria, and continues to perform internationally as a pianist, conductor, and composer.
In 2022, he served as a jury member for the international music competition “Sounds of the Land of Fire” held in Vienna.