In her music the Azerbaijani composer Khadija Zeynalova (born 1975) skilfully combines the orally handed down music of the Mugham (since 2003 recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site!) with contemporary composition techniques. Her work is characterized by the combination of Western instruments with those from local folk music.

Khadija Zeynalova is an award-winning composer of contemporary, film and theatre music as well as organist and musicologist. Her compositions are performed by some of the world’s leading orchestras, ensembles and musicians in Germany, France, UK, Netherland, Cyprus, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Oman, Cyprus, Azerbaijan and many other countries.

As multilingual PhD graduate, she was a winner of the prestigious Friedrich-Ebert PhD Scholarship in Germany. Khadija is currently based in Germany continuing her career as a professional composer as well as teaching at Detmold Academy of Music (Germany).