(b Tashkent, 10 Feb 1942). Uzbek rubāb player, teacher and composer. He came from a family of musicians and began to study the rubāb at the age of six with his father, the composer and instrumental performer Muhammadjan Mirzayev. At the age of 14 Shavkat was invited to work with the Uzbek Philharmonic Society, and in 1960 he began to compose songs in the traditional Uzbek classical style. Between 1958 and 1972 he took part in tours of several countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Russia, and from 1960 to 1970 he worked for the Uzbek State Philharmonia. He studied Uzbek classical music with Fakhriddin Sadyqov at the Tashkent State Conservatory from 1972 to 1977, at the same time teaching singing and the Uzbek rubāb; he continued to teach at the Conservatory until 1982. From 1980 to 1982 he directed the makom ensemble at Uzbek State Radio, and in 1982 he returned to work for the Uzbek State Philharmonia. He is known internationally for his work with the singer Munadjat Yulchiyeva; as the musical director of Ensemble Munadjat Yulchiyeva he toured several European, Asian, American and African countries. He also conducts his own ensemble, which has performed widely in Uzbekistan and has also toured abroad; members have included Ahmadjan Dadayev (ghidjak), Shuhrat Razzaqov (dutār, tanbūr), Malika Zieyeva (dutār), Ikram Matanov (qoshnay), Timur Mahmudov (chang), Asrar Aslanov (tanbūr), Hodjimurad Safarov (doira) and Erkin Hudjaberdev (nay). Mirzayev has dedicated himself to the revival of songs from the Sufi tradition, the performance of which was forbidden during the Soviet period. In 1991 he was awarded the title Honoured Artist of Uzbekistan.
Munadjat Yulchieva and Ensemble Shavkat Mirzaev: a Haunting Voice, World Network 38 (1997)
Ouzbékistan: musique classique instrumentale, AIMP CD-974 (1998)
RAZIA SULTANOVA