Master Class with Namik Sultanov

Namik Sultanov has been known as a distinguished pianist and outstanding pedagogue with his exceptional lyrical gifts and distinctive performance style. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan (former USSR), he showed an extraordinary talent for music at a very early age. He played several instruments such as the violin and flute and studied composition. At the age of twelve, after being deeply impressed by the performance of Van Cliburn, winner of the First Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, he started to study Tchaikovsky`s First Piano Concerto by himself. In a short period of time, he prepared and played all three movements with the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. After this big success he became the student of Prof. Lev Naumov at the Moscow State Conservatory. After graduation he was appointed an associate professor with the added title “Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan Republic.” His intense musicality, brilliant virtuosity and electrifying personality consistently thrill audiences at the prestigious concert halls of Moscow, Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Mexico City, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, Alma – Ata, Tallinn, San Francisco, and Baku.
In 1991 Dr. Sultanov was invited to join the piano department at Bilkent University in Turkey, where he was the Chairman of the Piano Department, and Dean of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts. Dr. Sultanov nurtured many students who have become winners in different piano competitions and has been invited as a jury member to numerous national and international piano competitions. Dr. Sultanov currently serves on the faculty at San Jose State University School of Music and Dance in San Jose, California