Translated with AI
When you send your child to school, you trust his or her teachers, the staff, and the new school family. This is an exciting and important moment in the life of every parent. If it is not just a secondary school, but a specialized one, then it is doubly difficult. You need to have time to master both standard subjects and musical ones, as in the secondary special music boarding school named after Ziyodullo Shakhidi. Founded in 1963, this institution trains musicians in seven departments: general and special piano, strings, choral conducting, brass, folk instruments, and theory. Our heroine, pianist and head of the music department of the school Nasiba Bakhtierovna Sharipova, works here. She was awarded the high title of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan "Teacher of the Year" in 2024.
– I am a graduate of this school, – Nasiba Bakhtierovna recalls her childhood. – My father works here, he teaches cello lessons; my uncle teaches violin, I teach piano… And the children study music: the eldest in the string department, the youngest in the wind department. Nasiba Bakhtierovna smiles thoughtfully… Dynasty.
The history of the musical dynasty began with the grandmother – Kimat Bakhodurova, the first Tajik woman who took the liberty of going to Tashkent in 1958 to learn to play the cello, an instrument little known to Tajik listeners at the time. Today, her name is included in the history of the formation of national art. And then, the woman raised two small sons practically alone, having managed to raise excellent musicians from them. Bakhtiyor played in the orchestra of the Tajik State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after S. Aini, Alimardon – in the military orchestra of the 201st division of the Russian Federation. In the difficult time of civil confrontation, when many specialists began to leave the country, the teaching staff of the Shakhidi school, where the backbone was made up of teachers of non-local nationality, thinned out. That's when Kimat Bakhodurovna asked her sons to go teach, not to abandon the children, continuing her work. Later, Bakhtiyor Kadyrovich brought little Nasiba here, whose path to great musical art was predetermined. From the first lessons, teachers recognized her natural ear – the girl quickly grasped etudes and sonatinas, plays and waltzes, masterfully performing works by Beethoven, Chopin, Bach. After graduating from school, Nasiba Bakhtierovna continued her studies at the T. Sattorov National Conservatory of Tajikistan. During her student years, she actively demonstrated her brilliant abilities at various competitions and festivals. The result of many years of persistent studies was that Nasiba Sharipova was awarded the qualification of accompanist-teacher, artist of a chamber orchestra. Today, heading the music block of the school, she is, to some extent, a conductor of a large musical orchestra, in which teachers and students play harmoniously and harmoniously. Finding the key to everyone is a special skill.
– It is difficult, – says our heroine, – nothing comes easy. Our children are a special contingent. From the first grade they study in a different environment – a musical one. We form a different worldview in them, and therefore, the approach to them is different. Our students have a unique opportunity to work in the children's symphony orchestra under the President of the Republic of Tatarstan from the 9th grade. This is not only practice, experience, but also self-discipline. And what is important – the salary from 600 somoni and above, which the students receive. You see what talents we are raising for our orchestras, for the audience, for Tajikistan, – Nasiba Bakhtirovna says proudly.
In many ways, this is her merit: to attract experienced specialists to the school, to organize the work of teachers with children and their parents, to organize concerts, to resolve conflicts so as not to lose a single student – it is worth a lot. Despite all these difficulties – she is a wonderful wife and mother of four children: three sons and a baby daughter.
– My husband helps with everything, – says Nasiba Bakhtierovna, – I couldn't cope without him. I try to make sure that at home they don't feel like my mother is the boss. I hide my tiredness and stress, in the evening – I'm a mother. I have to cook, do the laundry, check homework.
– Do you have time for yourself?
– At night. Then I play. I find peace and tranquility in music – it's a special state.
– What do you play, whose works?
– Beethoven… And not only.
After thinking for a moment, Nasiba Bakhtierovna touched the keys… and the sounds of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's waltz began to echo throughout the school hall where we were talking.
Watching her perform, I recall lines from a poem by Maria Rozumko:
"The pianist's hands flutter lightly –
The sounds of ancient music are carried,
They soar into the heavenly heights,
As if the wind suddenly touched a string."
“This piece has its own history,” says the pianist, “in 1882 Tchaikovsky wrote a cycle of six pieces for piano, and all of them were
dedicated to the composer's sister's family and her friends.
"Sentimental Waltz" is the last one. Tchaikovsky wrote it for his French governess Emma Genton. My son and I play this waltz, in a duet. I play the piano, he plays the cello, like his grandfather.
Nasiba Bakhtierovna dreams of a solo concert, but teaching work takes up almost all her time. While learning numbers with students representing the school at the "Tajikistan – My Homeland" competition, she experiences constant excitement behind the scenes, as if she were on stage herself. By the way, her student Lada Sachkova was lucky enough to take first place at this prestigious republican competition in 2022, and in 2024 Tursunoy Okilova pleased her teacher by becoming the winner of the competition for young pianists held at the T. Sattorov National Conservatory.
– We are grateful to the Leader of the Nation, the respected Emomali Rahmon, for this initiative. The competition stimulates children, revealing new opportunities and creative powers in them. Winning at this cultural venue is a huge motivation. Since 2020, our students have been lucky enough to take more than 30 prizes.
And now the guys are playing music, preparing for auditions, final exams and competitions, both national and international. Because summer is not only a time of vacations, but also rehearsals, selections and competitions for young talents – pianists and cellists, violinists and vocalists, rubabists and flutists – those who tomorrow will join the ranks of orchestra members in the leading musical groups of our country.
Nasiba Gulyamova
