Murad Kazhlayev

Murad Magomedovich Kazhlayev^[a] (15 January 1931 – 23 December 2023) was a Russian and Lak composer and conductor.^[1] He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1981), People's Artist of the Republic of Dagestan [ru] (2016), and laureate of international premiums and contests. He was also Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Great Academic Concert Orchestra named after Silantyev [ru], a professor and academician at Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.^[2]

Murad Kazhlayev Мурад Кажлаев
Kazhlayev in 1993
Background information
Born	(1931-01-15)15 January 1931 Baku, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union (present-day Azerbaijan)
Died	23 December 2023(2023-12-23) (aged 92) Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Composer conductor teacher

Biography

Murad Kajlayev was born on 15 January 1931 in Baku to a Lak family.^[3]

He graduated from Baku State Conservatoire from the composition class of Boris Zeidman [ru].^[4] He was expelled from there for his ardour for practicing non-academic musical genres but soon he was reclaimed. He worked as a teacher at a musical school named after Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in Makhachkala, as a chief conductor of the Dagestan Radio Symphonic Orchestra (1957–1958), artistic director of the Dagestan Philharmonic Hall (1963–1964) and secretary of administration of the Union of Soviet Composers (from 1968).^[1]

Kajlayev died on 23 December 2023, at the age of 92.^[5][6]

Awards

• Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation (2021)^[7]
• Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1960)^[7]
• People's Artist of the USSR (1981)^[7]
• Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1971)^[7]
• Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the III and IV degrees (2008, 1995)^[7]
• Order of Friendship (2014)^[7]
• The honorary diploma of the President of Azerbaijan for his services to the development of cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Russia (2021)^[7]
• Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1970)^[7]

Family

His father was Magomed Davudovich (1894-1963; otolaryngologist, Doctor of Medical Sciences), his mother was Yelena Mikhailovna (1908-1983; phoniatrician).^[7]

He was married to Valida Islamovna Kajlayeva. His son is Hadjimurat Kajlayev (born 1962).^[7]

Notes

1. • Russian: Мурад Магомедович Кажлаев, romanized: Murad Magomedovich Kazhlayev
   • Azerbaijani: Murad Maqomedoviç Kajlayev