The youngest female orchestra conductor representing Azerbaijan on the world stage and Azerbaijan State Artist Turan Manafzade was born in Baku in 1991. The daughter of Azerbaijan State Artist pianist Islam Manafov, Manafzade has given concerts as a pianist in many countries in addition to her conducting career.

In 2012, she graduated from the piano undergraduate class of Assoc. Prof. Nurferi Onur at MSGSU State Conservatory. She participated in piano workshops with Boris Petrushansky, Tamara Poddubnaya, and Dimitri Bashkirov, and conducted studies with Rengim Gökmen in 2017. In 2014, she started her undergraduate education in Orchestra Conducting at MSGSU and graduated from Antonio Pirolli’s class in 2019.

In January 2019, she conducted the “New Year” concert at Vienna’s “Muth” concert hall, and in May she conducted the Baku premiere of the first Balaban concerto composed by her brother Abuzar Manafzade.

She gave a special piano concert with her family for Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Star Refinery opening in 2018 and the TANAP project opening ceremony in 2019.

She completed her master’s degree at Bahcesehir University Faculty of Business Administration in 2021, with the thesis “The Impact of Digital Transformation on Art and Artist Activities: A Study on COVID-19.”

In 2022, she gave concerts with the “Turan Orchestra” she founded, conducted the Aspendos concert at the invitation of Limak Philharmonic Orchestra, gave a solo recital at the Brussels European Parliament’s “Yehudi Menuhin” hall, and performed concerts at UNESCO Paris. She continues to give concerts on different continents with the “7 Güzel” music group, consisting of women artists from the Turkic World, of which she is the music director.

In 2023, she composed the march titled “TÜRKİYE 100” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. She also composed the official fan anthem “Finalda Qazandıq,” which was first performed at the first match played in Karabakh Khankendi after 30 years, written at the proposal of Final Tea, the official sponsor of Karabakh Football Club.
Manafzade continues her active music career as a conductor, pianist, and composer with solo and project concerts in various countries.