Prominent Azerbaijani composer, organist, and Honoured Artist Arif Abdulla oglu Mirzayev died on November 10.

Axar.az reports that the musician passed away in Germany at the age of 83 following a prolonged illness.

Arif Mirzayev was born in Baku on April 10, 1944. He studied composition under Gara Garayev at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory named after Uzeyir Hajibeyov, now the Baku Music Academy.

Mirzayev was a pioneer of religious memorial, organ and polyphonic music in Azerbaijan. He created a rare synthesis of Eastern culture and Western classical polyphony and was awarded the international “Heirs of Johann Sebastian Bach” medal.