Farah Tahirova

Biography

Biography
The Azerbaijan-born musician began her piano education at the age of 7 at a local music school. After seven years of focused piano training at a music school, she studied for another four years at a music college, majoring in piano, which she graduated from with honors. By the age of 8, she was already performing on Azerbaijani television. She later pursued higher education at the Baku Music Academy, specializing in Musicology, and graduated with honors as a musicologist. Her professional experience includes roles as a piano teacher, concertmaster, and lecturer in music history, as well as a main research assistant at the Baku Music Academy’s Research Center (2006–2010). In 2011, she earned her PhD in Philosophy of Arts. Currently based in Vienna, she serves as the Artistic Director of the cultural society "Culture Meeting Point" and teaches piano and music theory at the Vienna Music School. She is also an accomplished author, with several books on topics such as Shostakovich and Azerbaijani music culture, which have been showcased at major international book fairs in Moscow and Ashkhabad.
In addition to her academic and literary contributions, she has organized and directed numerous international music festivals and concerts across Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. She has participated in various international music events and symposia, including the Shostakovich centenary festival under Mstislav Rostropovich and the ISME conference (International Society for Music Education). Her public engagements include more than 40 opening speeches, media appearances, and performances as a solo pianist, including a recital at the Polish Cultural Institute in Bratislava (2017). She has served as a jury member for several international piano competitions in Vienna, including "Classic Pure Vienna" and "Sounds of the Land of Fire." She has also delivered academic presentations at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), particularly on the connections between Shostakovich and Azerbaijani composers such as Jovdat Hajiyev and Gara Garayev. Her educational contributions include a textbook on European, Russian, and Azerbaijani music history for conservatory preparatory courses and over 50 scholarly articles in international journals. She has also contributed to research on modern music education and Shostakovich’s reception in Turkey. Her work has been recognized with numerous international awards, including: The International Certificate for the method "My Piano Time" (2025, USA), Diplomas for preparing students for competitions in Finland and Austria (2023–2024),  Recognition by the “LYRE” Ukrainian Festival of Music and Arts, as part of the "Florida Keys" International Music Competition" (USA, Florida, 2022), Certification for teaching methods such as "Hello, Piano" (Webinar, Germany, 2021), the „Humay” Prize and Youth Prize for Culture from the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a medal for contributions to promoting Azerbaijani culture abroad of the public authority - the Committee for Work with the Azerbaijani Diaspora.