We are proud to announce the official establishment of the Study Group on Voice Research Across Musical Traditions within the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD), a group that has been created in the lead-up to World Voice Day 2025.

This significant achievement is the result of three years of consistent, purposeful, and impactful work devoted to the advancement of voice studies through international and interdisciplinary collaboration. The newly established Study Group on Voice Research Across Musical Traditions within ICTMD will serve as a dynamic platform for interdisciplinary cooperation across science, medicine, the arts, and education — furthering its mission to promote research, foster knowledge exchange, and raise awareness of the human voice as a cultural, physiological, and artistic phenomenon within global musical traditions.

The formation of the Study Group on Voice Research Across Musical Traditions within ICTMD will be celebrated during a major international event — the III International Scientific-Practical Conference “The Voice of Shusha – The Voice of Azerbaijan”, which is being held at the international level for the first time in 2025. This year’s conference is dedicated both to World Voice Day and to the 140th anniversary of the eminent Azerbaijani composer and educator Uzeyir Hajibeyli.

Since 2023, the interdisciplinary scientific and practical conference “The Voice of Shusha – The Voice of Azerbaijan”, dedicated to World Voice Day, has been held with the support of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory.

The first two conferences featured panel discussions and round tables, where experts from various fields—medical professionals, singers, and art scholars—explored different aspects of the human voice.

This year’s event, “The Voice of Shusha – The Voice of Azerbaijan III,” will take place on April 18–19, 2025, in the historic city of Shusha, at the Shusha Hotel, in the Uzeyir Hajibeyli Ballroom Hall.

This gathering holds special significance, as it is dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Uzeyir Hajibeyli—the brilliant figure who laid the foundation of Azerbaijani classical music. His groundbreaking contributions to opera, operetta, and vocal composition, intricately woven with the poetic traditions of the literary ghazal, continue to shape our cultural identity. One of the central themes of this year’s conference will be an in-depth exploration of the vocal dimensions in Hajibeyli’s works, in honor of his enduring legacy.

While previous conferences welcomed international participants online, we hope that future editions—with increasingly enriched scientific programs—will reach a truly international level, enabling wider participation and the opportunity to meet in person.

Head of Voice Research Scientific Laboratory under the Azerbaijan National Conservatory
Chair of the International Scientific and Practical Conference “The Voice of Shusha – The Voice of Azerbaijan”